Call for tougher drug driving penalties

According to the NRMA, one in three drivers convicted of a first offence for drug driving are getting off scot-free.

The association has analysed data from Belmont, NSW, local court records between 2010 and 2012, which shows that 50% of drivers charged with drug driving received a section 10 (a dismissal of charges), were convicted without penalty or had no conviction recorded.

Kyle Loades, president of NRMA, suggests that the punishment does not fit the crime, given the serious risk this behaviour poses on the community at large.

“Belmont is one of the worst in the state where 50% of people who went before the courts, who’ve been caught driving under the influence of drugs, 50% have been let off,” he said. “That’s a disgrace and these people need to be held accountable.”

Loades goes on to say that enforcement, tough penalties and a comprehensive campaign is required so people fully grasp the dangers of drug driving. He suggests that policing levels are appropriate, as 30,000 drug tests have been conducted in one year, but that the courts are letting the system down.

“We’ve made drink driving socially unacceptable and now we need to do the same with drug driving. It, too, should be completely unacceptable,” he said.