TACKLING DRUG DRIVING: THE VICTORIAN APPROACH

The increased involvement of drugs other than alcohol in road trauma in Victoria has led to the introduction of legislative frameworks to regulate drug use and driving. In December 2000 legislation came into force setting out a procedure to test suspected drug impaired drivers and introducing a new offence of driving while impaired by a drug. In December 2004, legislation came into force prohibiting the presence of illicit drugs in a person when driving. This legislation authorises police to randomly test drivers, at the roadside, for the presence of illicit drugs. Since the introduction of random drug t esting there has been a continual expansion of the program. In July 2009, the routine screening of the blood samples taken at hospitals from collision victims for the presence of illicit drugs was implemented as an additional mechanism to tackle drug driving in Victoria.

The Victorian legislative frameworks aimed at tackling drug driving by the testing of drivers for drug impairment and the presence of illicit drugs, including the implementation of the routine screening of blood samples taken at hospitals from collision victims for the presence of illicit drugs, are examined. The application of these frameworks is also examined in the context of the psychological theory of deterrence.