CRACKDOWN ON DRUG-DRIVERS

PREMIER Anna Bligh has pledged to crack down on dangerous drug-addled
drivers with Queensland police due to begin roadside testing within
weeks.

Police expect to drug-test up to 20,000 drivers in the next 12 months,
with the number of roadside tests likely to increase in the following
years. "It's time to get tough - don't say you weren't warned," Ms
Bligh said yesterday after the state's road toll sped past 300.

Drivers will be tested for cannabis, ecstasy, speed and ice as well as
breathalysed in roadside drug and alcohol blitzes around the state.

"The prospect of my family being on the same road as someone on ice
terrifies me," Ms Bligh said.

As of yesterday, the state's road toll was 300 - 38 ahead of the same
period last year.

Last year 335 people died on Queensland roads. The highest road toll
in the past decade was 360 in 1997.

The Premier said it was obvious that drugs were a killer on our
roads.

She said evidence from north Queensland drug-driver testing trials and
Victorian drug testing of drivers showed illicit drug use was more
prevalent than alcohol use among drivers.

And it's not just illicit drugs that are a problem. One in four
Queensland drivers have got behind the wheel after taking medicinal
prescription drugs which can hinder vision and reaction times,
according to a survey by insurer AAMI.

On Wednesday, the Australian Drug Foundation will release findings of
a national research project on drug driving.

Drug-driving legislation was introduced in Queensland on October
1.

Drug testing will operate state-wide at locations based on police
intelligence from early December, Police Minister Judy Spence said
yesterday.

"We are determined to catch those people who play Russian roulette
with the lives of others on Queensland roads," Ms Spence said. The
testing will result in lengthy roadside delays for some drivers.

After being breathalysed, a mouth swab will be taken if drug use is
suspected.

The swab is then put into a cylinder of chemical liquid which takes
three to five minutes to show if drug traces are present. If the first
saliva sample proves positive, drivers will be taken to a roadside
test van to provide a second sample, which will be sent away to a
laboratory for analysis.

Transport Minister John Mickel says Queensland is "on the cusp of a
tragic milestone" by eventually reaching 400 deaths.

The state's 300th road victim was a truck driver whose semi plummeted
30m down Cunninghams Gap, southwest of Brisbane, on Friday.

He was Alan Batt, a married father-of-three from Victoria.

Police said Mr Batt, 43, may have tried to jump from the cabin after
he lost control of his Kenworth truck just before midday on Friday.

It went over the edge at Clayton's Gully, about 3km from the top of
the range.

He was transporting imported beer from Melbourne back to the
Brisbane-based trucking company where he started working only a few
weeks ago.

A co-owner of the company, who asked not to be identified, described
Mr Batt as a very experienced truck driver and devoted family man.

"Everything seemed to be an adventure. He was very family orientated
and was out there making a living for them," she said.