A ROADSIDE drug blitz on Hammond Avenue on Saturday has yielded no results, bringing the effectiveness of stationary testing back into question.
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Wagga Highway Patrol conducted 175 drug tests on Saturday afternoon and did not receive a single positive return.
While police were quick to praise motorists, confusion remains as to how the rate of detection sits so low.
“We didn’t get any positive tests and issued just two tickets for unlicensed vehicles,” Sergeant Steven Sivewright said.
“It’s a pretty good result for us.
“Any negative results are welcomed, little though all negatives.”
It comes after Senior Sergeant Wayne McLachlan in April confirmed his unit was no longer carrying out mobile or targeted tests, revealing the city’s one-in-three hit rate on drug drivers has since blown out to a lacklustre one-in-16.
During a blitz on Hammond Avenue in 2015, police conducted 181 roadside drug tests and 51 returning positive results – a detection rate of more than one in four.
However, some believe it may simply be a case of the message getting across.
Wayne Blair, a former participant in Police Citizens Youth Club’s (PCYC) Traffic Offenders Intervention Program, said he would not dream of ever trying to drug drive again.
”Once you see the other side of the coin and realise what you’ve done wrong – there’s no going back,” he said.
“You have to endure the punishment and see the repercussions before you truly learn your lesson.”
The PCYC holds six two-day courses every year in Wagga.