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 2010. The level of driver screening tests (DST) for alcohol in South Australia in 2010 increased to the highest level since 2006. The proportion of tests conducted using mobile DST for alcohol was similar to the previous year. The detection rate, based on evidentiary testing, decreased slightly in 2010 and was lower than in two of the three other jurisdictions that supplied comparison data. The level of driver screening testing for drugs increased by three per cent in 2010 from the 2009 level. Testing rates per head of population continued to be the highest in Australia. The drug detection rate rose in 2010, though the level of drug driving among fatally injured drivers decreased slightly, relative to 2009. THC (the active component of cannabis) was the most commonly detected drug. The number of hours spent on speed enforcement in 2010 decreased by three per cent from 2009. The number of speeding detections also decreased relative to 2009 for all types of detection devices. Detections per thousand vehicles passing a speed camera decreased markedly after January in 2010. Systematic speed surveys found reductions in mean travelling speeds on most metropolitan roads but no significant change on rural roads. Speeding by more than five km/h also decreased on most metropolitan roads and also on 110 km/h rural roads. Restraint offences decreased by 10 per cent in 2009. Restraint use in serious and fatal crashes remained lower in rural regions than in the metropolitan area. Males were more likely to be charged with a restraint offence and less likely to be wearing a restraint in a fatal or serious injury crash. (Author/publisher)
Abstract