A Scheme to Reduce Drink Driving
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Breathometer Corporation Pty Ltd has, for the last 30 years, been building and supplying machines to enable drinkers to determine their retained alcohol level, before attempting to drive their cars. The machines are wall mounted and have a display feature on which appropriate messages can be posted. A drinker merely inserts a $2 coin and receives a full analysis of the alcohol shown by the breath blown into it. |
Des Malcolm is the Immediate Past President of the Tullamarine Rotary Club and is the Managing Director of this family owned firm. 40% of the company’s costs are involved in research to ensure the machines are as accurate as possible and using the latest technologies, thereby producing world class instruments that are fully certified to Australian Standards AS3547.
They have been working with country communities involving the local Police, the Shire and community groups to install these machines and consistently achieving about 16% reduction in drink driving offences. At popular events it has also reduced the anti-social behavior when young people fully realize the actual alcohol level they are incurring with some of the stronger spirits.
When VicRoads became interested and arranged for 30 machines to be installed on trial, at first there were objections by the Hotels Association but the trial has shown similar drink-driving offence reductions without the hotels suffering any of the loss of business that they feared.
The Transport Accident Commission (TCA) is so impressed that it is offering up to $25,000 for groups to install these machines in appropriate venues. As the machines cost $5,000 installed, it means that a group can have 5 machines installed at no cost to them other than the requisite marketing messages and continuous attention to the machines and their use. Des has taken on the role of TCA Ambassador in respect to installing as many machines as possible around the State.
His proposal is that Rotary Clubs adopt this role and give a message to the community of our concern and willingness to do something worthwhile to address the drink-driving problem. His company will continue to service and regularly calibrate the machines while the Rotary Club can collect the revenue for use in their own community projects.
Questions were raised concerning the club being involved in proof of accuracy in any litigation but Des assured the questioner that this would not be a problem. Joe then proposed that the Kooyong Tennis Club could be the venue of our first machine while President Geoff stated that the Board would give its fullest consideration to the proposition Des had put to the Club.