Driver impairment is a serious road safety issue. Impaired drivers are at a much higher risk of being involved in any crash than sober drivers and have a correspondingly higher rate of involvement in fatal crashes than other drivers.
Under section 19 of the ACT's Road Transport (Alcohol and Drugs) Act 1977 it is an offence for a person to drive a motor vehicle on a public street or in a public place if the person has the prescribed concentration of alcohol or more in the person's breath or blood.
From 1 December 2010, under section 20 of the Road Transport (Alcohol and Drugs) Act 1977 it is an offence for a person to drive a motor vehicle on a public street or in a public place if the person has a prescribed drug present in the person's blood or oral fluid. A 'prescribed drug' means the active ingredient in cannabis (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), methamphetamine or MDMA (ecstasy).
Each year, more than 1500 people are caught drink driving in the ACT.
It's fun to socialise with your friends, but if you are drinking, the safest options are to catch a bus or a taxi, get a lift with a sober friend, or stay overnight. Better still, if you plan to drive, don't drink.
Too many Canberrans are involved in alcohol-related crashes. Each year, alcohol contributes to about 25 per cent of road deaths in the ACT.
Alcohol affects your ability to be in control of your actions. If you drink then drive, you will be stopped!
Police conduct random breath testing to deter and detect drink drivers. ACT drivers can expect to be breath tested anywhere and at any time.
The effects of alcohol can:
Blood or breath alcohol concentration is a measurement of the amount of alcohol in your body.
Factors which can affect your BAC include:
As a general guide:
For men: No more than two standard drinks in the first hour and one standard drink each hour after that.
For women: No more than one standard drink each hour, less for smaller women.
Note: Drivers restricted to a zero alcohol concentration should not drink any alcohol before driving.
Standard drinks all contain about the same amount (10 grams) of alcohol.
Examples of standard drinks
A- 1 middy of full strength beer (285 ml)
B- 1 glass of fortified wine (60 ml)
C- Approx. 1 nip of spirits (30 ml)
D- 1 can (375 ml) of low alcohol beer
E- Approx. 1 small glass of table wine (100 ml)
F- Approx. 1 schooner of low alcohol beer (425 ml)
Remember, the only thing that will reduce your BAC is time. It takes your liver about one hour to process the alcohol in one standard drink. Therefore, after a heavy night's drinking it is quite possible to be 0.05 or over the next morning. Coffee, cold showers, mint confectionery, vitamins, vomiting or exercise will not reduce your BAC any sooner.
It's important to check whether you are a special driver, as special drivers are subject to a zero BAC.
Please note:
1. The zero BAC only applies to heavy vehicle drivers when they are driving a heavy vehicle that has a GVM or GCM of more than 15 tonnes. So if they are driving their private car or some other private vehicle, they are subject to the same BAC of less than 0.05 that applies to other full licence holders.
2. The zero BAC only applies to public passenger vehicle drivers when they are driving a public passenger vehicle (a taxi, bus, hire car or restricted hire car). So if they are driving their private car or some other private vehicle, they are subject to the same BAC of less than 0.05 that applies to other full licence holders.
3. Drivers who hold a foreign driver or rider licence from a country that is not recognised by Austroads as having licences that correspond to Australian licences are 'special drivers'. The countries that are recognised by Austroads are: United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Isle of Man, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Croatia, Jersey, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Guernsey and Malta. Drivers from recognised countries that hold the equivalent of an ACT full licence are not 'special drivers'.
4. 'Driver trainers' includes driving instructors, heavy vehicle driver assessors and any person who is supervising a learner driver (including parents and other unpaid persons).
It is unlikely that food or medicine, consumed in normal quantities, would produce a BAC reading above zero. However, the ACT's laws provide a specific defence for a person to whom a zero BAC applies, if the person registers a BAC below 0.02. The person can raise, as a defence, that the BAC reading is the result of the consumption of food, medicine etc.
level 1 less than 0.05glevel 2 0.05g or more but less than 0.08glevel 3 0.08g or more but less than 0.15glevel 4 0.15g or more
The table below summarises the penalties for drink driving offences.
Note 1: For some offences, different penalties may apply to special drivers who are driver trainers.
Note 2: A level 1 Alcohol Concentration only applies to Special Drivers, such as taxi, bus, hire car, learner, provisional, probationary, restricted, heavy vehicle, dangerous goods vehicle etc.
Karralika Programs Inc - formerly Alcohol and Drug Foundation of the ACT (ADFACT)Postal address: PO Box 2230, Tuggeranong ACT 2901Contact numbers: Phone (BH) (02) 6163 0200Fax (02) 6282 7777Website: http://karralika.org.au
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