Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer said he was pleased to see the first bus of the new fleet hit the road and that it was clearly distinguishable because of its new design.

“The design of the buses follows the tradition of innovation that has been the hallmark of the Victoria Police mobile alcohol and drug testing campaigns,” AC Fryer said.

“The new buses have been designed with enhanced safety measures to keep our members safe and include LED flood lighting technology, one step entry with an internal flat floor, front and rear storage area for equipment and state of the art electronic control systems.

The new features allow for a more efficient mode of operation out in the field as the buses will be easier to set up and pack up, allowing them to be moved easily to perform and cover more areas for testing.

“The investment by Victoria Police, government and the Transport Accident Commission in committing to the fleet of new buses sends a strong message of our very real commitment to remove impaired drivers from the road.”

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The vehicle is one of a new fleet of 10 units that will be a made up from a combination of four large and six small buses.

The launch of the new bus coincides with the release of statistics which reveal the amount of motorists and riders who last year died with the presence of alcohol, drugs or both in their system.

“Sadly over the last year 166 drivers or riders who lost their lives on the road, 56 were either over the alcohol limit, had drugs in their system or both,” AC Fryer said.

“21 were over the limit, 27 were found to have drugs in their system and a further eight drivers/riders were both over the limit and impaired by drugs.

“These are some sobering figures as we highlight our new fleet. To think 34 per cent of people who lost their lives on the road, and who were in charge of their vehicles, actually chose to get behind the wheel impaired is shocking.”

The entire fleet of new buses will be rolled out over the next 12 months.