Victoria Police will be conducting an extra 25,000 roadside drug tests per year, as part of a new funding partnership.
The extra drug tests are currently being rolled out, with police on track to record 175,000 tests this financial year.
Transport Accident Commission is rolling out $4.536 million for the additional tests, as well as another $16.6 million for four other police projects over the next five years.
They comprise:
– An application Roadside Impaired Driver Evidence (RIDE) to reduce manual paperwork for roadside drug and alcohol tests ($5.841 million)
– An additional 88 vehicles with automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) technology to detect unauthorised drivers ($6.391 million)
– Upgrading police in-car video technology in 98 vehicles ($2.842 million)
– Replacement of 127 alcohol breath-testing instruments and 27 extra instruments ($1.49 million)
Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said the TAC’s “massive investment” will save lives.
“We will be testing more drivers for drugs than ever before.
“The boost also allows us to enhance technology across the force to ensure our people have the tools they need to enforce effectively and make the roads safer.
“This includes targeting behaviours that contribute to road trauma like speed, impaired driving, high-risk driving and unauthorised driving.”
Victoria Police stated drug-driving was a leading cause of road trauma – with drug drivers involved in 793 crashes in 2024-’25.
Melbourne’s South East was recently reported as a hot-spot for intercepted drug-drivers, with Pakenham and Dandenong topping the state.
Pakenham was No.1 with 358 drug drivers intercepted by police in the 2024-’25 financial year.
This was triple the number of intercepts in the second-ranked suburb Dandenong (114).
Pakenham was also the most common place for drug-drivers to live.
Nearly one in five – or 18 per cent – of Victoria’s drug-driving intercepts were in the Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia region.
