Twenty-eight of Canberra's worst serial drink-drivers have racked up 184 convictions, 13 of which were committed by one driver who was allowed back on the road last month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The 28 drivers are men and the worst four offenders account for 40 of the convictions.
Statistics issued by ACT Policing show most of the serial offenders have been convicted six, seven or eight times.
One 52-year-old Canberran has been convicted 13 times, more than any other ACT driver caught by ACT Policing in the past two years.
His 13th offence was committed in February last year, when he was picked up for a low-range drink-driving offence in Charleston Street in Monash.
In May, he was fined $200 and banned from holding a licence for just three months.
The man's criminal history shows he has been convicted on drink-driving charges in the 1970s, '80s, '90s and 2000s.
Court records only show nine convictions over that time, which conflicts with police records, which show 13 convictions.
He has also been convicted of violent and drug-related offences, as well as other traffic matters.
At his latest hearing, the court heard the man had since secured steady work, was undergoing counselling and had shown genuine remorse. The statistics also show that two other drivers were allowed to remain on the roads with restricted licences, despite each having five past drink-driving convictions.
The average age of the 28 offenders was 44, with only one driver aged in his 20s.
The oldest was a 73-year-old man who has been convicted of drink-driving five times.
ACT drink-driving laws were toughened in December 2010, making it easier to target repeat offenders.
Before the reforms, a driver was only considered a repeat offender if they committed two offences within five years. The new legislation means any driver who commits two offences is deemed a repeat offender, regardless of the time between convictions.
The new laws also require a driver to undertake mandatory alcohol education before regaining their licence.
Yet, despite the reforms, the penalties for repeat drink-drivers remain relatively weak compared with NSW.
A repeat offender caught driving with a reading between 0.5 and 0.8 faces a maximum licence suspension of 12 months and a fine of $1100 in the ACT.
In NSW, the same driver would face a maximum fine of $2200 and could have their licence suspended for life.
Recidivist drink-drivers in the NSW also face further punishment through the tough Habitual Offender Scheme. A driver who records three convictions in under five years is hit with an automatic five-year driving ban under the scheme, which can be altered by a court to a minimum of two years.
Recidivist drink-drivers in NSW can also be forced into alcohol interlock programs, which makes it impossible for the driver to start their car without first passing a breath test.
Similar alcohol interlock programs operate in Queensland, South Australia, and Victoria.
The 2010 drink-driving law reforms in the ACT considered the interlock devices, but the Government decided against bringing them in.
ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell ruled out further reforms to drink-driving laws in the near future, and said he was comfortable with current penalties.
''We have a revised and up-to-date drink-driving offence regime, which has, only within the last year, been reformed,'' Mr Corbell said.
But shadow police minister Jeremy Hanson said the current system was ''clearly not working''. ''I'm very concerned about the statistics that I'm seeing,'' Mr Hanson said. ''People who have six, seven, eight, nine offences, need to be sent a very clear message.''
''Be it the legislation or the procedures that are in place at the moment, it's clearly not working and the message is not getting through to these people.''
Sergeant Jason Kennedy, of traffic operations, said recidivist drink-drivers accounted for about 30 per cent of all those caught drink-drinking on ACT roads. ''We've got to look at not just deterring them through the courts but I guess as a community, saying 'drink driving, we've had enough of it','' he said.
