Causing crashes, speeding and watching videos on the phone while driving – these are the types of dangerous behaviours that drink and drug drivers were caught doing last month.
ACT Policing detected 98 drivers under the influence of alcohol or who had drugs in their systems in December 2024.
This operation follows an earlier one in November 2024, when almost 700 drivers were caught speeding in Canberra that month alone.
Officers from across the Territory had targeted impaired drivers last December, conducting more than 17,000 random breath and drug tests.
Officer in Charge of Road Policing, Detective Inspector Mark Steel, said it was disturbing that 98 drivers had been detected with substances in their systems. He said such reckless behaviour had to change.
“Nationally, last year impaired driving was a contributing factor in 30 per cent of all fatal collisions,” he said.
Some of the incidents involving the 98 drivers make for chilling reading.
There was the 28-year-old who crashed after hitting a kerb and driving through a fence before coming to a stop in grassland. He returned a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.134.
A 53-year-old woman, who had already been suspended from driving, crashed before returning a BAC of 0.187.
There was a 33-year-old man, also already a suspended driver, who was watching videos on his phone while driving. He had a BAC of 0.172.
Another 28-year-old man crashed into a parked car, then returned a BAC of 0.104.
As a 31-year-old man was an international licence holder, he was subject to a zero-alcohol limit. However, he had a BAC of 0.255.
Also, a 28-year-old man was seen speeding, swerving over the road and mounting the kerb of a roundabout. His BAC was 0.227.
All 98 drivers were immediately suspended from driving in the ACT for 90 days and will face court at a later date.
Detective Inspector Steel said one driver found under the influence of alcohol at an RBT station was asked why he was drink-driving.
“He told officers he didn’t think he would encounter police on his way home,” he said.
“No-one should ever have the mentality that it’s OK to get behind the wheel and take the risk.
“Police will continue to target those who drive impaired, and I’d once again like to remind Canberrans that you can be caught anywhere, any time. If you run the risk, prepare to face the consequences.”
The ACT had 11 road fatalities in 2024, with the 11th being a 75-year-old who died just days before Christmas.
There have been no fatal crashes in the ACT so far this year.
Here are more examples of the 98 drivers caught with alcohol or drugs in their systems during December 2024:
- An unaccompanied, 31-year-old female L-plater returned a BAC of 0.169
- A 25-year-old male P-plater had a BAC of 0.195
- A 39-year-old woman, who had already been disqualified from driving, recorded a BAC of 0.295
- A 59-year-old man crashed before returning a BAC of 0.175.
Meanwhile, the start of 2025 means ACT police can now issue charges to drivers for driving under the influence of cocaine.
It took only eight hours for the year to start before the first driver was allegedly caught with the drug in their system.