pedestrian-08-campaign « The Pedestrian 08 Campaign

US Navy – Have the guts to do what’s required to succeed. What’s wrong with us?

09/03/2012

As part of their duties, the US Navy and US Marines Senior Officers regularly put those under their command in harms way. They do this as a matter of routine.

Yet they routinely minimize risk – where they see it – and can do something about it!

In short they value life! Can we say the same Australia’s Civilian “Commanders” in jurisdictions such as the city councils of Australia’s Capital Cities and Australia’s State Government Premiers?

Can we say the same for the Governments of the UK and others?

Can we say the same for the leadership of Australia’s Defence Force (ADF)?

US Nuke Subs have Missiles, Super Computers, Torpedoes and now Breathalyzers!

The US Navy and Marines have evaluated various solutions and found what we discovered decades ago. The most effective behaviour changing process you can invent to beat the scourge of binge drinking-alcohol fueled violence and pedestrian deaths is via Random Breath Testing (BAC Testing).

From the online edition of the Wall Street Journal, first printed on 6th March, 2012, headed Navy, Marines to Start Random Alcohol Tests, by Nathan Hodge, I present these quotes:

The Navy and Marines said Monday they plan to introduce random breath tests of personnel on duty as part of a broader health-and-safety push…

And:

The U.S. military already randomly tests members of all branches for illegal drug use. But resorting to breath tests—which detect blood alcohol levels from a breath sample—represents a first for military personnel.

And:

Some Navy crew members, for instance, will have to take a breath test when reporting aboard a ship for duty and other sailors will be subjected to random inspections.

And as part of their prior testing of RBT methods:

The Navy’s submarine fleet in the Pacific has already experimented with a pilot breath-test program that began in 2009. Officials say that program led to a 45% decrease in alcohol-related incidents, such as arrests for driving [cars!] under the influence.

US Nuclear Submarine Torpedo Room. Every finger on every button belongs to a sober, drug free serviceman or woman.

We have no immediate feedback on how many Submarine to Submarine collisions were avoided…

Note, in Australia we have a long history of proving the targeted effectiveness of RBT via our motorist targeted Point 05 Campaign which has saved hundreds of lives in the process.

Confusingly, a recent Defense Force Inquiry found that

alcohol use is common among ADF personnel and … there is also a high prevalence of drinking at hazardous levels. …this situation has existed in the ADF for a
considerable time, despite some commendable efforts to comprehensively address it over the years.”

Comment: Commendable Efforts don’t cut it. People, including civilians are regularly dying whilst these “Commendable Efforters” fail to hit a cultural change target.
(Just ask family and friends of victims of HMAS Cerberus – a major cultural trend setter training base in Victoria, Australia.
And:

26.4% of ADF members report consuming alcohol at hazardous or harmful
levels. …risky drinking in the ADF is an important contributor to
alcohol related harm

Comment, a quick read proves where the major attention of the defence force chiefs will be drawn:

…an analysis of the volume of negative television, radio and press
coverage of the ADF and its personnel in relation to alcohol found that in 2010–2011 there
were 2,666 such reports, which reached a cumulative potential audience of 81,159,239 and
had an advertising space rate of $4,445,812. This was a 347% increase from 2009–2010

And paid spin doctors, get typing on your response to a likely Tender:

Any explicit communication strategy can be readily undermined by adverse counter messages
and in this context the Panel advises the ADF to develop an organisation-wide policy on
alcohol industry sponsorship and promotion of ADF people, units, and events that has a
specific intent of reducing alcohol related harm

Comment: ADF personel could use their common sense, review what The US Navy submariners have found, and do what they do, and add more measures.
(ADF: No charge for that advice…)

Meanwhile, in a tale of how hard it is to put across a message of so-called “safe” alcohol consumption, Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council’s new guidelines are known by only 5% of respondents (source: research conducted by the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research)

Alcohol Riddled UK, struggling to find sensible regulation

21/02/2012

With one of the world’s largest problems dealing with alcohol, the UK is struggling to assertively introduce sensible, researched regulations to mitigate against the omnipresent marketing success of Big Liquor.

See this Guardian Link here: Can we afford not to have minimum pricing for alcohol?

Other articles at the Guardian here: Alcohol pricing: a battleground between heath groups and drinks industry

And here: Give people a drinking licence, and take it away if they cause enough damage

The UK appear to be choking on an inability to confront the mega corporations dominating their communities. There seems to be a reluctance to take on one of the key tactics with this amazingly powerful lobby. This is to call them to account for what they are, what they have done, and what they continue to do.

UK A&E Departments and Ambulance paramedics should be clamoring for random pedestrian breath testing and a pedestrian 08 law.

This is a behaviour changing policy model that works. Comprehensively works.

Leave a Comment » | Alcohol Concern, Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, Binge drinking, Emergency Department, pedestrian 08 law, Pedestrian Random Breath Testing, The-Pedestrian-08-Campaign, Uncategorized | Tagged: Brian Kellet, David Cameron, Guardian, Pedestrian Random Breath Testing, pedestrian-08-campaign | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Irresponsible Parents prove need for Pedestrian RBT, Fines, Education and Behaviour Change

02/11/2011

Seven out of 10 under-age drinkers caught in the Cornish holiday resort of Newquay were given alcohol by their parents…

BBC Cornwall reports the above, and more:

Most of the teenagers caught drunk and disorderly said they were sent to Cornwall with alcohol [from Parents]…
…although some parents were shocked about their children’s behaviour, others verbally abused officers who confiscated the alcohol…
…one officer was verbally abused by a parent who accused him of stopping her son “having fun”. The teenager was one of four 16-year-olds caught with 64 cans of Special Brew.

The campaign ‘Newquay Safe Partnership’ was formed in 2009 after two teenagers were found at bottom of cliffs in two separate incidents.

There is little doubt that a great percentage of Great Britain’s parents are either unwilling, unable or just too ignorant to responsibly guide their children through the alcohol wars of teenage years.

The Police effort here, is focused on Drunk and Disorderly Offenses.
Is this leaving a problem until it is too late?
Do police have a viable mechanism for the wholesale population wide detection of underage drinking?
Do they consider this, their role as a law and order body?

Where parents fail, the State ‘Nanny’ has to take over.
Pedestrian Random Breath Testing (P-RBT), that includes public transport, allied to heavy fines and heavily publicised educational messages offers the most hope for:

Identifying the largest cohort of offenders as quickly and as efficiently as possible; and
Changing their behaviour by unambiguously delivering a message about where acceptable behaviour ends

It is Not acceptable for children to fall off cliffs, under trains, and under cars because of Parent Supported Underage Drinking.

Underage drinking is a scourge against the very development of children:

Leave a Comment » | alcohol, Binge drinking, drink-walking, Pedestrian deaths and injuries, Pedestrian Random Breath Testing, The-Pedestrian-08-Campaign | Tagged: alcohol, BBC, BBC Cornwall, Newquay, Newquay Safe Partnership, P-RBT, Pedestrian Random Breath Testing, pedestrian-08-campaign | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Reaching for responsibility – are we there yet?

17/10/2011

Last Melbourne Cup Day – yes, it is a proclaimed public holiday here – Race Goers crossing Flinders Street from Young & Jackson’s famous bar, were handed a brochure proclaiming a fictitious Point 08 Pedestrian Limit for Race Day and how all Responsible Servers of Alcohol would, quite reasonably, provide an easy mechanism for Users to be able to accurately self test the amount of drug in their system via their Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) Level.
Many of the Users were already so inebriated – at 10 in the morning – that they:

Took the ‘Limit’ literally [they believed it] ;
Confessed that they were already ‘over the limit’;
Look really worried – and plainly paused for thought;
Took the brochure.

A year has gone on and as the Melbourne Age reports (Oct 14, 2011) the Melbourne Race Club has moved to doing something like the above hoax, this time for real:

Race-goers at tomorrow’s Caulfield Cup will be able to see whether they exceed the blood-alcohol level as part of a plan to help prevent the racing carnival turning into tragedy.

Two breath-testing devices were today installed in the members pavilion at Caulfield racecourse to give some of the expected crowd of 40,000 the option of getting an alcohol reading before they got behind the wheel.

It is believed the devices, which charge people $2 for a breath test and are claimed by their manufacturers to be as reliable as the ones police use, have never before been installed for a major metropolitan race meeting.

And the motivation?:

Melbourne Racing Club spokesman Josh Rodder said the innovation was a “good cultural thing” to help people know how much alcohol they had consumed.

“It’s good to have just as a guide, so they’ve got an idea how much they’ve had if they are driving, or if they want to avoid having too much to drink,” Mr Rodder said.

And regular readers can see the holes:

Not enough machines for the massive, massive crowd;
No published pedestrian limit (what’s the guideline for a pedestrian?);
No mention of the behaviour changing mechanism of:
a) Clearly and simply proclaiming a max legal pedestrian limit;
b) Advertising and marketing the pedestrian limit;
c) Modify so called RSA guidelines to include a minimum number of BAC Testing machines, that guarantees immediate testing;
d) Include point of sale audio visual education messages on the BAC Testing machines;
e) Providing police for Pedestrian Random Breath Testing (RBT).

This more complete plan of law, education, testing and action would truly ensure “a good cultural thing”.

Avoiding incidents as reported in Herald Sun (Oct 16, 2011):

More than 60 people were thrown out of Caulfield Racecourse and three arrested as police cracked down hard on public drunkenness.

However, one woman had to be helped into a wheelchair by two St John Ambulance paramedics and pushed to a first aid station because she was so drunk.

And a fight between a group of young men had to be broken up by police.

By the way, we had our 10,000 visitor, on these pages recently.
Thanks so much for your interest and support.

1 Comment | alcohol, Binge drinking, drink-walking, pedestrian 08 law, Pedestrian deaths and injuries, pedestrian-08-limit, The-Pedestrian-08-Campaign | Tagged: Caulfield Racecourse, Flinders Street, Flinders Street Railway Station, Josh Rodder, Melbourne Age, Melbourne Cup Day, Melbourne Racing Club, pedestrian 08 law, Pedestrian Random Breath Testing, pedestrian-08-campaign, pedestrian-08-limit, Point 08 Hoax, PRBT, Random Breath Testing, RBT, Young & Jacksons | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Operation Unite. Great, but what’s the message?

04/02/2011

Operation Unite, a joint operation spanning the police forces of Australia and New Zealand was run once more.

This could kill

See NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione’s announcement here.

Such joint, concerted operations aimed at the victims of Big Liquor should be encouraged.

Note that the alcohol affected are victims too.

Many lives would have been saved from either death or injury because of this operation.

Many, many more would be saved if the message was more clearly spelled out!

Few of the arrested and fined idiots caught up in this operation would have a clear idea of when exactly they went wrong.

Will they change their behaviour? Do they know how much is too much? How many will be repeat offenders?

Whereas, a motorist pulled over for a breathalyser will know exactly where the boundaries are, where and when their transgression commenced and what the probable penalties would be.

How many of the alcohol afflicted caught up in Operation Unite would have gone home knowing exactly what went wrong – what was it exactly that was illegal? – and what point in time was their errant behaviour was set in motion?

What Operation Unite needs at its core, is a clear boundary to enforce.

What Operation Unite needs to enforce is responsible drinking.

You need to clearly define what responsible drinking is, in the context of mixing with your fellow citizens in public, in order to have any chance of getting past the message “Don’t upset the police!” – which may in fact be the only campaign message being transmitted during Operation Unite.

Note, that you cannot get an clear, easily understood answer from police, Big Liquor or Government to this question:

What is responsible drinking?

This boundary should be the maximum safe blood alcohol content for a pedestrian: A BAC of point 08.

That’s a simple, easy to understand, true message in need of Government and community promotion.

If you work for a police force, ask for it and get your colleagues to ask for it:

We want a max BAC of 08 for Pedestrians

Advertise it, Educate the public, Enforce it, like you enforce point 05 for motorists.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe recently stated that 70% of Victoria Police workload was alcohol related.

By enforcing a maximum BAC Limit of point 08, Operation Unite should be part of a campaign to reverse that statistic.

Along with the alcohol epidemic hitting our ambulance and hospital services…

Leave a Comment » | Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, pedestrian 08 law, pedestrian-08-limit, Uncategorized | Tagged: Operation Unite, pedestrian 08 law, pedestrian-08-campaign | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Binge Drinking Primary School Students

26/10/2010

Under the headline ‘Girls worse than boys for underage boozing’ a report in the Daily Gazette sums up the tragic situation in the UK where:

Shocking evidence from charity Alcohol Concern shows nearly a third more girls than boys have been admitted to hospital from Accident and Emergency wards after excessive drinking.

So normalised is underage drinking in the UK, that the focus of Alcohol Concern is to reduce the amount underage drinkers actually drink, not to actually stop them from drinking:

As long as alcohol remains as heavily promoted as it currently is, young drinkers will continue to consume far more than they might otherwise, leading to inevitable health harms, wasting ambulance and police time.

Every possible effort must be made to eliminate any underage drinking.
A program of random on street breath testing associated with Pedestrian 08 would help identify children risking permanent damage and addiction via alcohol consumption and offer authorities an intervention opportunity prior to these often abused and neglected children needing attention in Accident and Emergency Departments.

Don Shenker’s reference to Alcohol Marketing shows again what evil consequences Big Liquor advertising, Sport Sponsorship and Facebook/Social Media marketing, has on Big Liquor’s primary school age drinking market.

Daily Gazette

Leave a Comment » | alcohol, Alcohol Concern, Binge drinking, pedestrian 08 law, Underage Drinkers | Tagged: alcohol, Binge drinking, Don Shenker, pedestrian-08-campaign, underage drinking | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Britney Spears wins honorary membership!

11/10/2009

In Melbourne Australia, where this is written, we are served by 2 dailies, the Herald-Sun and The Melbourne Age. Not only that, but we have another broadsheet, The Australian. So, unlike a lot of places in this world, we have access to plenty of writers and hopefully, plenty of different voices.

So these are some of the headlines in today’s papers:

Exposed: Grog online too easy for under-age teen, Mark Russell, The Age
Safety rethink as pedestrian toll stays high, Reid Sexton, The Age

Don't drink it all at once

Mark Russell doesn’t mention how many times The Offending Retailer has been taken to court, prosecuted and fined, although we are left with the guess that this number is zero.

There is a lack of aggression on the part of Mark Russell, which is probably couched in a belief that no harm is really being done. If correct, this could not be further from the truth. An accompanying, motivated editorialist might be asking why does it take a newspaper to try out this sort of testing behaviour? What are the licensing bodies doing to earn their pay? Have they been stifled by their minister? Should a hand sitter or two be immediately sacked? Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Binge drinking, drink-walking, pedestrian 08 law, Pedestrian deaths and injuries, pedestrian-08-limit, The-Pedestrian-08-Campaign, Uncategorized | Tagged: Binge drinking, British Medical Association, Britney Spears, Bruce Corben, ineffective-measures, Inspector Parr, Mark Russell, Nui Te Koha, pedestrian-08-campaign, pedestrian-08-limit, Peter Rolfe, Reid Sexton, Stephen Drill, TAC, VicRoads, Victoria Police, Victorian Government | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Where Nicola Roxon is going wrong…

04/10/2009

It’s good to see Australian Government Health Minister coming through with a Task Force, their Report, and a New Body dedicated to overseeing our alcohol, obesity and tobacco epidemics. Or is it?

Australia’s tragic history with a uniform progressive ‘liberalisation’ of alcohol laws include the implementation of spin based, deliberately ineffective ‘programs’ that have no proclaimed metrics for success; don’t take on responsibility for alcohol related violence; nor binge drinking; nor pedestrian deaths and injuries.

‘We need the community to make this work’ is the typical, buck passing refrain.

You will never hear ‘We WILL reduce the number of alcohol related ambulance call outs from [Victoria's 5000 per annum], by half, in our first year.’

You will never hear ‘We WILL halve the number of 11 year olds taking up alcohol at such a dangerous and inappropriate age.’

The problem has been the power Big Liquor has over our Governments, State and Federal, and our media.

Governments and media have continuously fallen into the trap of joint ‘industry-government’ and ‘industry-media’ partnerships. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, alcopops, Binge drinking, pedestrian 08 law, pedestrian-08-limit, The-Pedestrian-08-Campaign, Uncategorized | Tagged: alcopops, Binge drinking, ineffective-measures, Nicola-Roxon, pedestrian 08 law, pedestrian-08-campaign | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

About the Pedestrian 08 Campaign

01/10/2009

The Pedestrian 08 Campaign exists to promote the rapid adoption of scientifically based, maximum blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for those other road users – Pedestrians. In the media, this has been called The Drink Walking Campaign.
We need this limit imposed and enforced to:

Prevent pedestrian accidents, injuries and deaths
Eliminate alcohol related violence.
Reduce binge drinking.

1. Pedestrian safety

Research into Pedestrian safety demonstrates a clear need to adopt a Pedestrian 08 Limit.
What is the maximum acceptable blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for a pedestrian?

‘Research indicates that the skills necessary to cross a road safely are impaired at BAC levels of .08 and above.’

For your own safety, if you are not driving, stay under a BAC of 08. Read the rest of this entry…

2. Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence

88,000 'Glassings' occur every year in the UK

Research proves that at a BAC of 08 and above you are more likely to become engaged in acts of alcohol related violence.

Alcohol is a psychoactive drug. It can act as a disinhibitor. You are more likely to throw a punch or kick someone to death at or above a BAC of 08 than below it.

For your own safety and the safety of others always stay under a BAC of 08. Read the rest of this entry…

3. Binge drinking

The research is clear. Do not drink until the age of 23. Your brain is still developing and can be hindered or impaired by alcohol consumption.
Alcohol consumption by children is killing them via brain and liver damage, falls, traffic and other pedestrian accidents.
Children as young as eight years old are regularly being treated in casualty departments.

Parents, sporting clubs and organisations, alcohol advertisers, sporting programs, all night beer barns, Big Liquor, Big Liquor’s ‘alcopops’, ‘alcohol-normalising’ TV and Radio programs and broadcasters, politicians and governments are all to blame for the burgeoning binge drinking culture.

Binge drinking is dangerous to your health and the health and well being of others. Find out what binge drinking actually is via these pages and the links to other sites. Show some character, avoid it all costs – it leads to alcoholism, cancer and accidental and violent deaths. Read the rest of this entry…

A Cultural Problem

With a greatly expanding phenomenon of binge drinking at its core, we have a rapidly developing and destructive cultural problem to contend with.

The ‘silo mindset’ of many government departments make for narrowly based policy decisions with little coordination and a multitude of interests to deal with. A whole-of-government response is needed with a publicly declared primary motivation that human life – especially those of children – is the government’s top priority.

A massive whole-of-government policy option is to set a pedestrian BAC limit of 08. It will change behaviour, reducing violence, injury and death. It will work and if lessons of our motorist’s 05 campaign are taken on board, it will work immediately and with dramatic immediate effects.

Governments have a clear duty of care to do this and do it now.

Sporting organisations can assist by publicly and openly contracting their players and staff to play and work under 08.

As an individual you can help by never forgetting where responsible drinking ends – at 08 – and by resolving to always stay under 08.

A Culture Busting Solution

Responsible drinking will be given a research derived and easily understood and easily communicated BAC. ‘Responsible drinking ends at .08′ is just so easy to express – isn’t it?
A massive education campaign explaining the very real dangers of alcohol and the linkage between binge drinking and most alcohol related harms, will precede implementation of the campaign. Everyone will know what’s coming, what to do and how to react.
Online and I-Phone Calculators are available now to help users understand pedestrian 08 limits of Responsible Drinking as well as lower BAC levels that may pertain to your activity.
In Public Bar and other Liquor Venue BAC Testers will aid both overall restraint in consumption and give a reinforcement of expected BAC levels. No venue dispensing this drug ought to be licensed to do so without providing their patrons with a safe, reliable, accurate and well serviced BAC testing machines. It is simply not responsible for any government, anywhere, to allow such a situation to continue.
Costing about 10% of the total program, random breath testing of selected areas will reinforce the Responsible Drinking message, increase the personal safety of public transport commuters, entertainment district patrons and limit the number of underage drinkers. The Pedestrian 08 Campaign seeks to return basic civil liberties so often denied to the victims of binge drinking.

With a Pedestrian 08 program in place you will regain safe access to whole neighbourhoods and entertainment districts.

You will regain access to dangerous and often deadly public transport.

You will regain ready access to hospital and emergency medical treatment and ambulance coverage.

Many, many lives will be saved in the short and long term.

It could be you or someone you love.

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Media Inquiries: ph 0404170105

2 Comments | The-Pedestrian-08-Campaign, Uncategorized | Tagged: pedestrian-08-campaign, supporters-page | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

Victoria Police deliver…

28/09/2009

By way of background information, the most celebrated day on the Victorian calendar would have to be the Australian Rules Football (AFL) Grand Final, where 100,000 paying customers attend at the centrally located Melbourne Cricket Ground and millions watch and listen live on free to air television and radio.

Proving again, what a massive success Victoria’s BAC 05 Campaign has become, Victoria Police BAC tested EVERY driver leaving the car parks of the MCG and found only two over the limit.
Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, Binge drinking, drink-walking, pedestrian 08 law, pedestrian-08-limit | Tagged: Alcohol fuelled violence, alcohol related violence, Binge drinking, ineffective-measures, motorist-05-campaign, pedestrian 08 law, pedestrian-08-campaign, road-safety-blitz, Victoria Police | Permalink
Posted by pedestrian08

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The Pedestrian 08 Campaign

Irresponsible Parents prove need for Pedestrian RBT, Fines, Education and Behaviour Change

Reaching for responsibility – are we there yet?

Binge Drinking Primary School Students

Britney Spears wins honorary membership!