Major investment in roadside drug testing in Victoria saves more than 30 lives and almost 80 serious injuries on the state’s roads every year, a new study has found.
The Monash University Accident Research Centre study evaluated the impacts of $9.8 million investment from 2016-17 to 2018-19 to increase the number of drug tests from 42,000 in 2015 to 100,000 per year from 2017 onwards.
The report found that maintaining the increase to 100,000 drug tests per annum had prevented more than 33 fatalities and nearly 80 serious injuries each year from 2016-2018.
“Any measure that saves Victorian lives on our roads is worth taking – and the evidence could not be clearer that our record investments in drug testing is getting more people home safely every single day,” said Minister for Roads and Road Safety Ben Carroll.
