Published Friday, 15 December, 2006 at 12:34 PM
JOINT STATEMENT
Premier and Minister for Trade
The Honourable Peter Beattie
Minister for Police and Corrective Services
The Honourable Judy Spence
2006 CHRISTMAS ROAD SAFETY CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED
Premier Peter Beattie, Police Minister Judy Spence and Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson have asked Queensland motorists to make a difference on the roads this year.
To help ensure they do – 10 red high performance Ford Typhoon police highway patrol cars will be out in force as part of the increased police presence on the state’s roads over the Christmas holiday period.
Today the Premier, Minister and Commissioner launched the 2006 Christmas holiday road safety campaign, unveiling the new highway patrol cars and announcing tough new anti-drink driving laws which take effect today.
“For the first time, new laws starting today will mean any driver booked for drink driving with a Blood Alcohol Content of 0.15 or more will have their licence suspended until the case is heard in court,” Mr Beattie said.
“If a driver records a second drink driving offence while they have any current drink driving matter pending, they too will have their licence suspended until the matter is dealt with by the court.
“This is part of our increased crack-down on those who think they can flout the law.
“This is a tough new measure, which sits alongside the year-round double demerit points for repeat speeding offenders that we introduced at Easter.
“We don’t want a repeat of last year’s Christmas road toll which claimed 20 lives, which was 14 more deaths than the year before.
“Sadly, this year we have already seen 320 lives lost and this is 13 more than the same time last year,” Mr Beattie said.
Ms Spence said police expected to spend an additional 26,000 hours over the holiday period performing traffic enforcement.
“The government is continuing to fund an extra 500 police officer hours a day on traffic duties during the holiday period, which is equivalent to an additional 62.5 police officers a day on our roads,” Ms Spence said.
“Last December/January police performed 582,000 random breath tests, but I expect this will further increase these holidays due to the extra enforcement program activities relating to the immediate licence suspension regulations.”
Ms Spence said the State Government had wasted no time in acting on the recommendations of February’s Road Safety Summit by introducing a range of new safety measures that were now in place.
The changes already implemented to improve road safety include:
· toughened anti-hooning laws;
· double demerit points for high speed offenders;
· zero Blood Alcohol Content for learner and provisional drivers under 25; and
· alcohol restrictions for supervisors of learner drivers.
“We're working towards legislation for alcohol interlocks for repeat high-end drink drivers and just this month we introduced the legislation for our new young driver laws and random roadside drug testing,” Ms Spence said.
“We are determined to reduce the road toll and we will do everything in our power to do so.
“That’s why next year we are introducing even further measures, including random roadside drug testing and the confiscation of vehicles driven by repeat drink drivers, unlicensed and disqualified drivers, and drivers of unregistered and illegally modified vehicles.
“We will also introduce new penalties for aggressive and distracted drivers.”
The new Ford Typhoon police highway patrol cars all feature road safety slogans, including:
· Drive to Survive;
· Family and Friends – lets keep them safe;
· Its no accident, people cause crashes;
· Tired Drivers Kill;
· Tired of living? Drive Tired.
Mr Atkinson said police would be out in force over the Christmas holidays, targeting speedsters, drink drivers and defective vehicles.
“Fatalities can and do occur at any time, and Christmas is one of the busiest times to be on the road,” Mr Atkinson said.
“Police will maintain a strong and visible presence on our roads with an additional 500 hours a day spent on traffic enforcement during the holiday period, but there is only so much we can do.
“Police will again be focusing on the fatal four – drink driving, seatbelt use, driver fatigue and speeding.
“Ultimately, drivers have to take responsibility every time they get behind the wheel.”
Media contact – Premier’s office 3224 4500
Minister’s office 3239 6218
Police Media 3015 2444
15 December 2006
To help ensure they do – 10 red high performance Ford Typhoon police highway patrol cars will be out in force as part of the increased police presence on the state’s roads over the Christmas holiday period.
Today the Premier, Minister and Commissioner launched the 2006 Christmas holiday road safety campaign, unveiling the new highway patrol cars and announcing tough new anti-drink driving laws which take effect today.
“For the first time, new laws starting today will mean any driver booked for drink driving with a Blood Alcohol Content of 0.15 or more will have their licence suspended until the case is heard in court,” Mr Beattie said.
“If a driver records a second drink driving offence while they have any current drink driving matter pending, they too will have their licence suspended until the matter is dealt with by the court.
“This is part of our increased crack-down on those who think they can flout the law.
“This is a tough new measure, which sits alongside the year-round double demerit points for repeat speeding offenders that we introduced at Easter.
“We don’t want a repeat of last year’s Christmas road toll which claimed 20 lives, which was 14 more deaths than the year before.
“Sadly, this year we have already seen 320 lives lost and this is 13 more than the same time last year,” Mr Beattie said.
Ms Spence said police expected to spend an additional 26,000 hours over the holiday period performing traffic enforcement.
“The government is continuing to fund an extra 500 police officer hours a day on traffic duties during the holiday period, which is equivalent to an additional 62.5 police officers a day on our roads,” Ms Spence said.
“Last December/January police performed 582,000 random breath tests, but I expect this will further increase these holidays due to the extra enforcement program activities relating to the immediate licence suspension regulations.”
Ms Spence said the State Government had wasted no time in acting on the recommendations of February’s Road Safety Summit by introducing a range of new safety measures that were now in place.
The changes already implemented to improve road safety include:
· toughened anti-hooning laws;
· double demerit points for high speed offenders;
· zero Blood Alcohol Content for learner and provisional drivers under 25; and
· alcohol restrictions for supervisors of learner drivers.
“We're working towards legislation for alcohol interlocks for repeat high-end drink drivers and just this month we introduced the legislation for our new young driver laws and random roadside drug testing,” Ms Spence said.
“We are determined to reduce the road toll and we will do everything in our power to do so.
“That’s why next year we are introducing even further measures, including random roadside drug testing and the confiscation of vehicles driven by repeat drink drivers, unlicensed and disqualified drivers, and drivers of unregistered and illegally modified vehicles.
“We will also introduce new penalties for aggressive and distracted drivers.”
The new Ford Typhoon police highway patrol cars all feature road safety slogans, including:
· Drive to Survive;
· Family and Friends – lets keep them safe;
· Its no accident, people cause crashes;
· Tired Drivers Kill;
· Tired of living? Drive Tired.
Mr Atkinson said police would be out in force over the Christmas holidays, targeting speedsters, drink drivers and defective vehicles.
“Fatalities can and do occur at any time, and Christmas is one of the busiest times to be on the road,” Mr Atkinson said.
“Police will maintain a strong and visible presence on our roads with an additional 500 hours a day spent on traffic enforcement during the holiday period, but there is only so much we can do.
“Police will again be focusing on the fatal four – drink driving, seatbelt use, driver fatigue and speeding.
“Ultimately, drivers have to take responsibility every time they get behind the wheel.”
Media contact – Premier’s office 3224 4500
Minister’s office 3239 6218
Police Media 3015 2444
15 December 2006