Recent changes a nice nudge, but no where near enough

10/08/2009

With alcohol related violence spiralling out of control, the Australian State of Victoria has announced some changes. These involve:

  1. Search laws for the removal of knives – great news.
  2. A new law called ‘disorderly conduct’ which relies on the spot fines of significant proportions – good one.
  3. New liquor licensing fees that penalise the booze focussed all night venues. (The Nightclub Association laments that some will have to close down. Not one of them is worth the life of one of the late night victims of alcohol related violence. Good riddance!)

But, you know and I know that this is not enough…

The Victorian police recently ran out of overtime money and pulled over 100 seasoned officers from patrolling the bloodied war zone that is late night Melbourne. During this blitz, incidents of alcohol related violence INCREASED by 4%.  One can only imagine how bad it would have been without them there.

Melbourne is currently down 100 police on what we had during the blitz.

Now the massive news is they are going to buy in 120 more officers to be in place by April next year! How many lives and injuries is this hiatus going to cost?

Eventually these 100 officers will be in place, but, you know and I know that this too is not enough…

Is it a fair estimate to think that during this punching-kicking-knifing season, we will see a 20% increase in alcohol related violent incidents?

One thing our leaders have failed to do is too plainly state, in spin free English, whether their initiatives are going to decrease alcohol related ambulance call outs. Whether their initiatives are going to decrease the number of alcohol related, one punch homicides.  Whether their initiatives are going to save the lives, the memories, and the quality of life of so many people who will become disabled and brain damaged in the next 6 months.

As reported somewhere below, Victoria has around 5,000 ambulance call outs per year devoted to cleaning up after alcohol.

Any initiative worthy of the word should come with a boast: ‘Our initiatives will save the lives of [Insert number here] people. They will halve the number of alcohol related ambulance call outs within 12 months. They will be fully funded by the offenders themselves.’

Don’t hold your breath.

Big Liquor doesn’t like governments getting in the way of profits. If these profits kill and maim, so be it.

The Victorian Government needs to step up the leadership and plainly state to the drinking public that ‘Responsible drinking ends at 08′ and any pedestrian who blows over 08 will pay.

The Victorian Government needs to lead this culture, not be led around by it.

Leave a Comment » | Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, Binge drinking, Pedestrian deaths and injuries, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Media Files With Links

10/06/2009

With the kind permission of the radio stations involved, two recent interviews have been uploaded.
I’ve also hooked up a link to an article by Hamish Heard of Leader Newspapers – Melbourne edition is also provided. Thanks Hamish.
Both radio hosts had trouble distilling the concept that an 08 limit would affect 3 areas of such concern to us all:
1. Alcohol fuelled violence;
2. Binge drinking; and
3. Pedestrian safety
See what you think.
regards
Mike Cockburn

Leave a Comment » | Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, Binge drinking, Pedestrian deaths and injuries | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Police Commissioner gives us the bodycount…

05/06/2009

Victoria police commissioner Simon Overland laments the waste of life resulting from Victoria’s out of control binge drinking, alcohol fuelled violence ‘culture’.

What a mess:

Mr Overland said police were mainly concerned about the generation aged between 15 and 25, whose members apparently believed they were entitled to drink from an early age. “And they binge drink, and that’s part of it. Primarily, (we are talking about) young men, although, increasingly, we are seeing young women behave in ways that are just unbelievable. (They have) engaged in violent assaults and presenting up to casualty, absolutely intoxicated and dangerously so.”

And the body count:

…Mr Overland said a “one-punch” homicide, which he described as “the David Hookes scenario”, occurred in Victoria once a month. Typically, victims could die or suffer brain injury after hitting their head on a hard surface when felled by a punch.

How many more boys have to die before our State leaders bite the bullet, bring in 08 and fix this up?

In Victoria, we can tell you. A minimum of one per month due to one punch homicides – alcohol fuelled violence – alone.

Then we have the injuries, then we have the pedestrian deaths.

Leave a Comment » | Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, Binge drinking, Pedestrian deaths and injuries, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Why stop at Red Lights?

28/05/2009

So, the intersection you arrive at in the middle of the night is devoid of any traffic and you are faced with a red light. How many of us break the law and cruise on through?

Very few. Why?

Well I suppose it must get down to a respect for the law.

As we now have to breathalyse hundreds and hundreds of motorists to pick up the odd one over the limit, due in no small part to a general respect for the law, so will it be on getting the 08 law for pedestrians.

People will moderate their intake once they are told that this is the law, and that they are expected to obey it.

Just like they do at red lights.

We all get the benefit from fewer ambulance callouts, fewer hospital visits, fewer pedestrian fatalities via accident and alcohol fuelled violence. The trains get safer…

Because we stop at the red light.

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Posted by pedestrian08

Four thousand eight hundred and five reasons for an .08 limit

25/05/2009

In just one state, Victoria,  of one small country, Australia, there were 4805 ambulance call outs due to drunkeness, alcohol related injury and alcohol fuelled violence.

Despite some claims that the totality of the problem has not changed, this figure of 4805 call-outs (2006 figures) more than doubled that of 2002.

The 2007 Victorian Drug Statistics Handbook found more than 24,700 inpatient hospital visits were caused by alcohol consumption in 2005-06 an increase of 6 per cent over 2004-05.

Meanwhile, patients who may have thought that once on their way to hospital via ambulance, that they were on their way to a better outcome, many are shocked to find that they get to hospital and have to wait in the ambulance for up to an hour before they can be transferred to a trolley.

Whereas, it used to be thought a mark of major concern that a patient has to wait on a trolley, now the problem is you have to wait outside, tying down an ambulance and crew.

One massive benefit of having a government willing to take on this culture is to minimise the load on all our emergency services.

Sick people, sick due to no action of their own, have to fry in ambulances, because our governments refuse to police pedestrians.

Leave a Comment » | Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, Binge drinking, Pedestrian deaths and injuries | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Pedestrian, cyclist safety blitz will not change behaviour…

17/05/2009

This occured not that long ago in Melbourne:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/road-safety-blitz-in-melbournes-cbd-20090511-azo8.html

Read this and weep! You’ll see stats given like:

Senior Sergeant Shane Pettingill, from Melbourne’s traffic management unit, said the CBD had the highest number of pedestrian and cyclist collisions in the state – 358 over the past year – with injuries rising at an alarming rate.

Two pedestrians have died and 66 were seriously injured in the past 12 months.

No mention is made of the safety of having the recent explosion of bars, clubs and other liquour outlets, combined with the associated increase in violence.

Other sources reveal that each pedestrian injury can cost the state up to $500,000.00

Thats a massive subsidy to the ‘entertainment industry’…

Not one pedestrian during this ‘blitz’ would have been breath tested, found to be incapable of safely continuing their journey, and perhaps preventing them from falling under a train or tram, engaging in alcohol fuelled violence or worst of all, getting into a car and driving off undetected…

Reason: not against the law to be over .08 and be a pedestrian.

Leave a Comment » | Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, Binge drinking, Pedestrian deaths and injuries | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Eddie McGuire almost gets it…

17/05/2009

Read Eddie’s opinion piece ‘Sex, Sport and Safety Nets’

In it he describes a discussion with a female commentator, during which she proposed that footballers be banned from alcohol by their leagues during the course of their careers – so devastating has the abuse of alcohol been to the footballers, the game and the businesses associated with them.

The no-nonsense Kennerley’s thinking being that just about every ill associated with sportsmen’s behaviour, and you can extrapolate that out to include society’s, comes back to the abuse of alcohol.

The more you think about it, Kerri-Anne’s solution would undoubtedly cut down the number of incidents. At the very least we know that Melbourne’s CBD problems would by and large evaporate immediately.

You’re almost there Eddie!

And Kerri-Anne!

Try and think through how a fixed, sensible max BAC limit .08, enforced as a matter of the highest priority,  would cut down the number of incidents whilst letting responsible drinkers get on with their lives…

Leave a Comment » | Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, Binge drinking, Pedestrian deaths and injuries | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Another bashing, another death

17/05/2009

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25496094-661,00.html

Read about another senseless loss of life including this about the person charged:

Magistrate Richard Pithouse imposed bail conditions including a ban on him drinking alcohol and an order that he report to police daily and not contact witnesses.

If they see the arrested person walking the streets, are they going to breathalyse him?
Would an .08 limit helped prevent this incident?

Leave a Comment » | Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, Pedestrian deaths and injuries | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

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