Annual performance indicators of enforced driver behaviours in South Australia, 2007

This report was produced to quantify performance indicators for selected enforced driver behaviours (drink driving, drug driving, speeding and restraint use) in South Australia for the calendar year 2007. The level of random breath testing (RBT) in South Australia in 2007 decreased slightly but remained at a relatively high level. The proportion of tests conducted using mobile RBT continued to increase. The detection rate based on evidentiary testing increased in 2007 to the highest level on record, while the detection rate for screening tests decreased. Detection rates in South Australia were comparable with those in other states. Just over 12,000 drug tests were conducted during 2007, the first full year of random drug testing. Relative to other Australian jurisdictions supplying comparative data, South Australia had the highest testing rate per head of population. Around 24 drivers per 1,000 tested were confirmed positive for at least one of the three prescribed drugs with methylamphetamine the most commonly detected drug. Of the fatally injured drivers who were drug tested in 2007, 25 per cent tested positive for illicit drugs. There was a slight decrease in the number of hours spent on speed detection in 2007. Nevertheless, the total number of speed detections increased, with increases observed for speed camera and red light/speed cameras, the latter most likely due to the expansion of the program. The detection rate (per hour of enforcement and per 1,000 vehicles passing speed cameras) increased by around 30 per cent. Data from systematic speed surveys, introduced in 2007, indicated that travelling speeds on South Australian roads were increasing. The number of restraint offences in 2007 decreased by 14 per cent. Males were charged with more restraint offences and were more likely to be unrestrained in fatal and serious injury crashes than females, indicating that males remain an important target for restraint enforcement. The 2007 publicity campaign focused on the consequences of not using restraints rather than increasing the perceived risk of detection. 71 pages: http://casr.adelaide.edu.au/casrpubfile/808/CASR058.pdf