About one in ten drivers injured, or killed, in road crashes have the drug ice in their system a decade-long study has found.
The Victorian study – the largest of its kind in Australia – analysed data from nearly 20,000 injured and more than 1500 deceased drivers between 2010 and 2019, focusing on the presence of alcohol, methylamphetamine (ice), MDMA, and cannabis (THC) in their blood.
It found that 16.8 per cent of car drivers and motorcyclists involved in crashes tested positive for at least one drug, with 14 per cent of all crashes involving a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05 per cent or higher.
The findings showed methylamphetamine, which has the street name ‘ice’, is the most prevalent illicit substance detected in road crashes, present in 12.3 per cent of fatalities and 9.1 per cent of injured drivers.
Cannabis detections rose among injured drivers, while alcohol-related fatalities have declined but remain significant in crashes overall.
The study highlighted the need for more preventative action, said co-senior author Adjunct Associate Professor Dimitri Gerostamoulos, from Monash University’s Department of Forensic Medicine and the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.
“We always knew that drugs were prevalent in in motor vehicle accidents, but it’s alarming,” he told Neos Kosmos.
“We were surprised by the high prevalence of methylamphetamine, particularly in motorcyclists for those who are killed and pleasantly surprised by the reduction in the prevalence of alcohol overtime, which goes to the positive messaging, the education and the drink driving campaigns.
“But it’s clear that we need to do more work in the area, particularly around illicit drugs.”
Between 2015 and 2019, 27.9 per cent of motorcyclist fatalities involved methylamphetamine, 18.3 per cent involved THC, and 14.2 per cent involved alcohol over the legal BAC limit.
While alcohol-related detections in fatalities have declined, rates of alcohol use among injured drivers and motorcyclists have risen, the report found.
While there are already strategies in place like the random drug testing, breath testing for alcohol, which have been effective, and the years of drinking driving campaigns and education, Prof Gerostamoulos believes the approach has to be different for illicit drug users.
“The users are not the same as your typical people who can consume or have a couple of glasses of alcohol. Drug users are very different, and particularly those who are dependent on drugs like methamphetamine,” he said.
“The messages need to be a lot more nuanced towards those groups and they need to be targeted towards those groups.
“So whilst having random drug testing as a deterrent in place, often these drivers may have multiple offences, they may not even have a licence, they’re not even considerate of other people’s safety on the road.
“So that’s part of the issues with methamphetamine, it does encourage risk taking, speeding and all sorts of other dangerous driving that leads to a whole lot of injuries and accidents.”
He finds it encouraging that people, especially the younger generation, those who are in their twenties now, have heeded the messages and education around the dangers of drink driving, evident with the alcohol numbers going down.
But people who use illicit drugs are not listening to those same messages.
So that combined with the fact that alcohol is much easier to target, given it’s legal and common in society, it’s not as simple to start a campaign to stop driving under the influence of illicit drugs.
Gerostamoulos said studies like this and data collection will help though.
“The prevalence of methylamphetamine, particularly in injured and drivers killed in Vic, it just really reiterates that we need better approaches to getting these messages across and ensuring that you know the roads are safe for all.
“Reducing road trauma and having accurate data, having evidence-based data plays a huge role in government and road traffic authorities being able to develop policies that better deal with it with the issue of drugs and driving.
With AAP
