BY THE end of this week, about 1400 Year 11 students from throughout the region will have been made fully aware of the dangers associated with stepping behind the wheel.
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Despite its name, the 2015 Tamworth Young Drivers’ Expo reaches out to students from a large area of the North West, New England and Hunter regions, targeting those who already have their L-plates, or are about to go for them.
At yesterday’s first session at TRECC, officers from the NSW Police Random Drug Testing Unit, led by Inspector Steve Blair, showed the consequences of driving while under the influence of illegal substances with the latest high-tech gear, which will soon be available 24/7 at Tamworth Police Station.
Leading Senior Constable Mark Trethowan, who’s based at the Huntingwood head office in Sydney, not only teaches young people about police drug-testing, he’s also teaching police throughout the state how to use the equipment ahead of the rollout of units across NSW.
Constable Trethowan told students what was involved in testing for the presence of cannabis or methamphetamines (speed or ice) – a saliva test kit.
“If a person appears visibly affected by drugs or alcohol, we would bypass the bus and take them straight to hospital for blood testing, with their licence immediately suspended for a 24-hour period,” he said.
“Should someone be detected with illegal drugs in their system, the penalty is a minimum of six months’ licence suspension and $1100. If they get caught a second time, the penalties are doubled.”
He told the group that cannabis could still be detected 12 to 24 hours after use, and with “hydro” pot, much higher levels of THC would be recorded.
“A person is four times more likely to have an accident driving with illegal drugs in their system,” he said.
Some workshops were confronting, like the crash scenario, showing two wrecked vehicles.
The expo continues until Friday.