Port Macquarie has ranked in the top 10 region’s for drink and drug driving offences in New South Wales.
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The figures for the last financial year were released on Wednesday.
Port Macquarie was fifth for drink-driving with 144 offences and was second in drug-driving offences with 152. Byron Bay 205 and Armidale 176 top the respective lists.
Despite making the top 10 in both categories, Sergeant Paul Dilley from Mid North Coast Local Area Command’s highway patrol unit says he is not surprised by the figures.
“From a policing point of view, these figures reflect the level of activity within this command in this area (of testing),” he said.
“This is the result of a very concerted effort over the last 12 months. It is not just the highway patrol but all police across the entire command area.
“The increase in activity from all police has resulted in additional numbers being detected.
“It is just good, all round police work,” he said.
Sgt Dilley said there was no one area of Port Macquarie that stood out in the figures.
The highway patrol officer said he hoped the increased activity will see the message get out to the driving public.
“The education process we have had with drink driving is now very much in peoples’ minds.
The chances of you being stopped and tested is now much greater.
- Sgt Paul Dilley
“In relation to drug-driving, don’t forget we are talking about illegal substances. So if you jump in the car a day or two after popping a pill – which is illegal – and given the random nature of our testing, you should not be surprised if you get tested.
“The chances of you being stopped and tested is now much greater.”
Assistant commissioner Michael Corboy said police were encouraged by the statistics across the state which show that drink-driving rates are declining.
“However, with 25,000 caught in a year; drink-driving and drug-driving are still key issues across New South Wales,” he said.
The end of financial year statistics show that there has been a decrease of 1406 drivers charged with drug-driving, and a decrease of 1562 charged with drink-driving.
“However, it is still alarming to see that there were more than 17,000 drink-drivers, and more than 8000 drug-drivers on our roads in the last financial year,” he added.
Alcohol is a depressant, and;
- Slows your brain so that you can’t respond to situations, make decisions or react quickly,
- Reduces your ability to judge how fast you are moving or your distance from other cars, people or objects,
- Gives you a false sense of confidence – you may take greater risks, thinking that your driving is better than it really is,
- Makes it harder to do more than one thing at a time – while you concentrate on steering, you could miss seeing traffic lights, cars entering from side streets or pedestrians, -Affects your sense of balance – a big risk if you ride a motorcycle,
- Makes you drowsy – you could fall asleep at the wheel.
If you take stimulants such as ecstasy, or any form of amphetamine (speed, crystal meth, base) you are likely to:
- Believe you drive better than you actually can,
- Drive aggressively and take more risks, Be overstimulated and lose concentration
- Have blurry or limited vision, and/or
- See things on the road that aren’t where you think they are.
