{"id":107533,"date":"2024-11-06T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=107533"},"modified":"2024-10-31T12:41:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T01:41:26","slug":"tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Tougher penalties for drink-drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW drink-driving laws have been introduced in Victoria where every offender, even at the lower end of the scale, will now face a compulsory three-year period of having a blood alcohol content of zero while they’re driving.<\/p>\n

The mandatory time frame now applies to all drink-driving offenders from the time they successfully complete their court-mandated Alcohol Interlock Program.<\/p>\n

Minister for Roads and Road Safety Melissa Horne said the new measures will save lives.<\/p>\n

“Too many families have suffered the heartbreak of losing a loved one to drink-driving and these tough new penalties will make drink-drivers think twice before getting behind the wheel,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Every single one of us has a role to play to keep our roads safe. If you’re going out for a drink, the safest option is not to drive at all \u2013 it’s never worth the risk.”<\/p>\n

Victoria has some of the strongest penalties for drink-driving in the country.<\/p>\n

First-time drink-drivers who record a blood alcohol reading of between .05 and .069 lose their licences for a minimum of three months and must have alcohol interlocks fitted to their vehicles for a minimum of six months.<\/p>\n

Drink-driving remains one of the most significant contributors to Victoria’s road toll.<\/p>\n

Since 2023, about one in four drivers who’ve lost their lives on Victorian roads have had a blood alcohol concentration of .05 or above.<\/p>\n

For a complete rundown of the current drink-driving penalties, visit the Transport Victoria website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW drink-driving laws have been introduced in Victoria where every offender, even at the lower end of the scale, will now face a compulsory three-year period of having a blood alcohol content of zero while they’re driving. The mandatory time frame now applies to all drink-driving offenders from the time they successfully complete their court-mandated […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":107675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-107533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTougher penalties for drink-drivers - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Victoria\u2019s new drink-driving laws enforce a mandatory three-year zero blood alcohol limit for all offenders post-Alcohol Interlock Program completion, aiming to improve road safety. Discover the full details on penalties at the Transport Victoria website.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tougher penalties for drink-drivers - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Victoria\u2019s new drink-driving laws enforce a mandatory three-year zero blood alcohol limit for all offenders post-Alcohol Interlock Program completion, aiming to improve road safety. Discover the full details on penalties at the Transport Victoria website.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-05T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/11\/DD6-1024x538.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Adam Carswell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c\"},\"headline\":\"Tougher penalties for drink-drivers\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-05T17:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":244,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/DD6.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tougher penalties for drink-drivers - Ballarat Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/tougher-penalties-for-drink-drivers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/DD6.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-05T17:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Victoria\u2019s new drink-driving laws enforce a mandatory three-year zero blood alcohol limit for all offenders post-Alcohol Interlock Program completion, aiming to improve road safety. 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