Preliminary investigation of the impact of roadside oral fluid testing and increased penalties on illicit drug-driver fatalities in Western Australia

Illicit drugs such as cannabis and methamphetamine are well-known causes of driver impairment and significant risk factors for crashing and personal injury. In Western Australia, recent research showed that 23% of drivers fatally injured during the period 2000 – 2012 tested positive for one or more illicit substances (Palamara et al. 2014). To combat illicit drug driving in Western Australia, a number of initiatives have been implemented in in recent years, namely the introduction of Roadside Oral Fluid Testing (ROFT) (October 2007) and an increase in penalties for illicit drug driving (Section 64AC offence) (October 2011). From the perspective of Deterrence Theory, these countermeasures respectively aim to increase drivers’ perception of the likelihood of being detected for drug driving and the judged severity of punishment for doing so. To date there has been no investigation of the effectiveness of ROFT on the incidence of illicit drug related crashes in Western Australia or where introduced elsewhere. Similarly, there is a dearth of studies investigating the impact of increased penalties for drug driving. Consequently, it is of interest to model and quantify, where possible, the impact of drug-driving countermeasures such as those implemented in WA on illicit drug driver behaviours/outcomes.

• Record URL:
  http://acrs.org.au/publications/acrs-conference-papers/acrs-database/
• Authors:
  • Chow, K
  • Palamara, P
• Conference:
  • Australasian Road Safety Conference, 1st, 2015, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
• Publication Date: 2015-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 3p
• Monograph Title: Taking action together: 1st Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2015), 14-16 October, Gold Coast, Queensland

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Before and after studies; Behavior; Drivers; Drugs; Medical examinations and tests; Offenders; Penalties; Saliva; Traffic safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Safe systems (road users)
• Geographic Terms: Australia; Western Australia
• ATRI Terms: Before and after study; Crash countermeasure; Driver behaviour; Illicit drug; Penalty; Saliva test
• ITRD Terms: 9148: Before and after study; 1534: Enforcement (law); 9020: Evaluation (assessment)
• Subject Areas: Law; Security and Emergencies; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01591515
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 26 2016 9:32AM