TAC revamps message to drink drivers as police gear up for finals

19 Sep 2015

Footy fans and spring racing revellers have been warned of ramped up roadside breath testing as the Transport Accident Commission unveiled a revamped message to drink drivers.

The TAC's Interlock campaign and the Levels campaign - educating Victorian motorists on the myths surrounding how many standard drinks people can have while remaining under the limit - will both hit TV screens on Monday (September 21).

TAC road safety manager Liz Waller said tone of the TAC's drink driving message had been revamped as the organisation moved away from the hard-hitting slogans that have been a feature of the state's efforts to reduce road trauma over the past 26 years.

"For years we have been telling the community that drinking and driving can have devastating consequences,  yet alcohol is still a factor in one-in-four road deaths," Ms Waller.

The TAC signalled a shift in the way it talks to Victorians about road trauma when it launched its popular Towards Zero campaign last month. 

"Rather than talking to the few who are still doing the wrong thing, it's about bringing the entire community on board and making them think about the things that are really important to them," Ms Waller said.

In its revamped Levels campaign, the well-worn TAC slogan 'Only a little bit over? You bloody idiot' has been replaced with 'If you think you're over, you probably are'. Bloody idiots are also now absent from the Interlock campaign, now telling motorists: 'A little bit over? A lot to lose.'

"People who drink and drive already know the community thinks they're bloody idiots so this new approach is about reminding anyone planning on drinking alcohol about their responsibilities to their loved ones and encouraging them to plan a safe way home."

Ms Waller said the message was particularly important as Victorians' social calendars heat up for footy finals and spring racing.

The TAC joined Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing Doug Fryer to remind drivers that keeping the community safe was the number-one priority for police as they prepare for a statewide breath-testing campaign to coincide with the AFL Grand Final.

"If you are over the limit, the best thing you can hope for is to be waved in for a roadside breath test because the alternative could be your parents, partner, children or siblings receiving a visit from police telling them you won't be coming home," Mr Fryer said.

"In coming months we will be ramping up our roadside breath-testing operations so if you are going to drink plan not to drive, instead organise a designated driver, use public transport or catch a taxi."

Police road safety operations between now and Christmas have been given a boost thanks to a $650,000 TAC grant to fund overtime for road safety policing over and above normal police operations.

About $225,000 of that will be spent targeting drink drivers, as Victorians embrace footy finals, spring racing and the Christmas/New Year period.

Drivers with a blood-alcohol level of .08 are five times more likely to have a crash than before they started drinking. At 0.12, their crash risk has increased tenfold.