To Serve and Be Protected: Improving police officer safety and road safety at random breath testing sites in New South Wales, Australia

摘要

To combat alcohol-related crashes, police in New South Wales, Australia, were given the power in 1982 to stop any motor vehicle at random, and subject the driver to a roadside breath test. After nearly 40 years, no other road safety initiative has done more to save lives.Stationary Random Breath Testing (SRBT) continues throughout Australia today but an evolving risk environment has impacted on operations. This however presented an opportunity to integrate the latest in safe systems thinking to road policing.From July 2016 to December 2017, a working party was established and proposed a range of ideas. Expert advice from forensic crash reconstruction and independent driver training experts was taken and test days on a controlled track were staged. Referencing 2016 Austroads guidance on safe systems thinking, a new model for SRBT was devised, tested and approved for use.