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Bridgeburner
Not spiritual at all.




Registered: 09/16/06
Posts: 20,010
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Drug-drive problem shocks police
#7388014 - 09/09/07 12:30 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,22388724-922,00.html
ONE in 44 motorists are driving under the influence of drugs with police admitting the results of roadside tests have shocked them.
The terrifying extent of drugged driving means that on a regular day up to 4000 of the 161,000 drivers who cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge could be affected by illegal drugs.
Some drivers are using a mind-bending cocktail of three drugs and in some areas as many as one in 10 people are driving under the influence, roadside testing has revealed.
Since the beginning of the year, 71 drivers have tested positive for drugs with seven having taken ecstasy, amphetamine and cannabis.
Parents Stephen and Robyn Sands lost their 18-year-old daughter Ashley in a crash caused by a then 18-year-old who tested positive for amphetamines and cannabis.
Shaun Geoffrey Barratt this month pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death, two years after he crashed near Maitland with Ashley in the passenger seat.
"She was the most fun loving, friendliest, most outgoing person you can imagine, she would come in the back door and say 'I've had the best day, I've had so much fun,"' Mrs Sands said.
"If only people would sit up and listen. All for a short burst of pleasure they are risking so much."
Documents tendered to Newcastle Court by police showed Barratt had the drugs in his system but because it could not be proven that traces had affected him at the time of the crash the court did not consider the test results. Just a week ago, street racer Robert James Borkowski, 37, who allegedly killed grandparents Alan and Judith Howle at St Marys was charged with driving under the influence of drugs.
Superintendent John Hartley said he was shocked by the number of motorists police have caught this year using the new roadside testing.
"We've had a small number of tests and a large number of hits, we want to identify the drivers and get them off the road," Supt Hartley said.
The police will roll out up to eight testing vans.
About a quarter of drivers involved in fatal crashes are on either illegal or prescription drugs. There have been more than 3000 tests across the state but in the Newcastle area one in 10 drivers tested positive for drug use during March.
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Groomies
Ghost



Registered: 08/16/07
Posts: 1,119
Last seen: 7 years, 1 month
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Re: Drug-drive problem shocks police [Re: Bridgeburner]
#7389349 - 09/09/07 07:14 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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that just tells me that people can drive perfectly fine on cannabis. crashes don't mean anything. people crash when they are sober.
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highdroponics
Professional Deadhead



Registered: 11/14/06
Posts: 5,574
Loc: Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Last seen: 11 years, 3 days
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Re: Drug-drive problem shocks police [Re: Groomies]
#7390135 - 09/09/07 10:50 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Groomies said: that just tells me that people can drive perfectly fine on cannabis. crashes don't mean anything. people crash when they are sober.
yes but even if cannabis were to be legalized id still like to see it be illegal to drive under the influence, we must be responsible for them to trust us using the stuff.
-------------------- Dr says to stop trying to treat the side-effects of big government and focus on the core issues. End the Federal Reserve/audit the gold reserves at Fort Knox, abolish the IRS, end all wars and occupancies, stop the building of an empire that will inevitably fail, and cut all unconstitutional federal programs. Put the power back in the peoples' hands by ending this nanny-state.
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StrandedVoyager
The People's Champ




Registered: 12/09/04
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Loc: (202)-456-1414 Call Me
Last seen: 7 years, 5 months
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Re: Drug-drive problem shocks police [Re: highdroponics]
#7390334 - 09/09/07 11:50 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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A mind bending cocktail eh?
-------------------- Hi
My god... it's full of stars...
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kake
The answer to1984 is 1776.




Registered: 05/06/99
Posts: 2,782
Loc: The 66th harmonic
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that's nothing. I was told by the DMV that after 9pm, 1 in 7 cars on the road have passengers under the influence of alcohol.
1 in fucking 7!!
-------------------- The answer to 1984 is 1776.
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