We’ve gotta start this article off by asserting very clearly that drink-driving is a bad, no good, straight dumbass thing to do. It’s selfish, shortsighted, and endangers the health of more than just the person doing it.
And far beyond the physical, mental, or moral punishments, navigating the legislative minefield after you’ve been caught drink-driving can be an absolute headache, and an expensive one at that.
As far as Australia goes, it’s Victoria that has some of the stiffest and strictest penalties for people caught drink-driving currently on offer.
The Andrews State Government will soon introduce new legislation that will see all drink-driving offenders slapped with an Interlock device order upon the reinstatement of their license, regardless of the level of blood alcohol found in their system, or whether it was a first offence.
The Interlocks will be mandatory for all offenders for a period of at least six months, and will cost the user significant amounts of money in order to install, remove, and maintain the devices.
Even further still, the Government has stated it is considering a proposal to lower the legal drink-driving limit from the current .05 down to .02. For the majority of people, a BAC of .02 is reached after barely one drink.
Roads Minister Luke Donnellan pulled very few punches in asserting his Government’s commitment to road safety.
“Too many drivers pay the fine and forget about the potential consequences of drink-driving. Fines and demerit points alone aren’t working, more is needed to help reduce the number of Victorians who lose their lives or are seriously injured on our roads every year because of drink-driving.”
“If the figures indicate that would improve behaviour we’d look at [lowering the limit to .02], absolutely. I’m sure some would think it’s appropriate and some wouldn’t think it’s appropriate. We make no apologies for wanting to drive the death toll down.”
Meanwhile Assistant Police Commissioner Doug Fryer took it a step beyond even that, suggesting that the legal limit might need to be lowered specifically for people between the ages of 21 and 25, due to over-representation of drink-drivers from that age bracket.
The Interlock legislation is due to be introduced to Victorian State Parliament “soon.”
