The drink-or-drive message, combined with tougher laws introduced at the end of last year, have reduced the number of motorists caught drink driving overall. But they have failed to put a dent in the number of repeat offenders, with one in three drivers caught over the limit having a previous offence, according to police figures.
A raft of new drink-driving laws denies repeat offenders access to special work licences and reduces the blood alcohol limit to zero for learner or provisional licence holders.
But Australian Federal Police Association executive officer Jim Torr said tougher laws were not working and the only way to get the most dangerous drivers off the road was to increase the number of traffic police.
''You can be drunk as a skunk and drive past a speed camera and it won't matter because they can't breath test you and arrest you,'' Mr Torr said.
''Mobile police patrols are very capable of issuing speeding notices, but also arresting a drink driver. so there is a deterrent factor with mobile patrols.''
Head of ACT Policing's traffic operations Superintendent Mark Colbran said police were catching about eight previously convicted drunk drivers each week, some with up to six previous offences.
''There's a small minority who continue to flout the law and put the lives of others in danger,'' Superintendent Colbran said. ''Certainly they're people who know better because they have been warned of the dangers. They can't use the excuse of 'I wasn't aware' or 'I didn't realise I was drunk', because they have been caught before.
''They either don't get the message or ignore the message of the danger drink-driving causes to both themselves and other road users.'' About one-third of all fatalities and serious injuries that occur on ACT roads involve alcohol or drugs.
With 2010 having the second-worst road toll on the ACT's roads in the past decade, with 18 killed, Superintendent Colbran said getting drink drivers off the road would quickly cut down the waste of lives.
''Every time we take one of these people off the road we are potentially saving lives in Canberra,'' he said.
The number of drink-drivers caught on ACT roads peaked in 2008-09, with nearly 1800 people over the limit.
The number dropped to about 1300 in 2009-10 and with about 850 booked so far this financial year, looks on track to remain steady.
For more on this story, see the print edition of today's Sunday Canberra Times
Source: The Canberra Times
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