Truck drivers in South Australia have been caught with positive drug results and defective vehicles in multi-location operation
An eight hour police operation in South Australia has nabbed 20 truck drivers for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs and saw 27 defect notices issued.
Taking place on Monday, the operation saw truck drivers randomly pulled over in Wingfield, Dry Creek, Waterloo Corner and Largs Bay.
From the 300 tests carried out by the police, the 20 positive results for drugs all related to male drivers and represented a cross section of line-haul and local drivers.
North Adelaide suburb Wingfield, which sits to the east of the city’s port, played host to 55 per cent of the positive drug detections.
SA police investigations manager at traffic support branch, inspector Billy Thompson says “to detect 20 truck drivers with drugs in their system in an eight hour time frame, all driving heavy vehicles, is scary.”
“Heavy vehicle drivers using illicit drugs, such as amphetamines, may think that will help them stay awake, yet these drugs can adversely impact on their ability to operate their heavy vehicle safely,” he says.
“Methamphetamines affect reaction times, co-ordination and vehicle control as well as mood, perception, information processing and judgement.
“The presence of major or minor defects in any vehicle also increases the risk of causing a road crash.
“When heavy vehicles collide with a smaller vehicle, such as a car or motorbike, the results can be catastrophic.
“As the mass of one of the vehicles in a crash increases, so too does the severity of the crash.”
In the wake of the operation, two were arrested and 27 fines were issued, four of which were for cannabis.