BY DAKOTA TAIT
This Saturday will mark 40 years since police across the Hunter and New South Wales launched random breath testing on the State's roads.
Before RBTs in 1982, police could only stop a driver due to their manner of driving.
In the first five years following the introduction of random breath testing across the state, road fatalities fell from 1,303 in 1980 to 1,067 in 1985.
In 1980, the percentage of road fatalities linked to drink driving was 30 percent - of the 275 road fatalities recorded in NSW in 2021), 17 percent were attributed to drink driving.
The anniversary comes as police launch a statewide operation targeting drink and drug driving as the holiday season begins.
Newcastle and Hunter Highway Patrol Inspector Michael Buko says the patrol is ready to go.
"If you think you sneak past us, we know all the roads you can sneak past us on," he said. "We will have someone there."
"If you see an RBT sign and you think you can turn off into a side street, we'll have someone there."
"Just don't drink and drive or take drugs and drive. It's a simple message. It's not that hard to understand."
"There's plenty of Ubers and taxis out. Get a designated driver if you need it."
"It comes to ownership of the person driving. They need to do the right thing behind the wheel."
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| Inspector Michael Buko addressed reporters on Friday. |
