Safe driving requires good judgement and sharp concentration. You also need to react quickly to changing situations on the road. Drug driving puts everyone on the road at risk. NSW research shows that the presence of?illegal drugs is?now involved in more fatal crashes than drink driving. Mobile Drug Testing (MDT) has been introduced to operate alongside Random Breath Testing (RBT) for alcohol by police in NSW. MDT detects drivers who have recently used three common illegal drugs: ecstasy, cannabis and speed (including ice). A test for cocaine is being planned soon because of concerns about its increasing use. The roadside tests involve a saliva test. If the initial saliva test indicates positive, then the driver must undertake a second saliva swab at a mobile drug bus or police station.
Norway offers bus-lane access for electric vehicles, many recharging stations, privileged parking, and toll-free travel. The initiative began in the 1990s as an effort to cut pollution, congestion, and noise in urban centres; now its primary rationale is combating climate change. Today, Norway has the highest per capita number of all-electric [battery only] cars in the world. Last year, electric vehicles constituted nearly 40% of the nation's newly registered passenger cars.
Earlier this year, Norway opened the world's largest fast-charging station, which can charge up to 28 vehicles in about half an hour. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/07/power-to-the-ev-norway-spearheads-europes-electri
Portugal decriminalised the use of all drugs in 2001. Possession and use of small quantities of these drugs was treated as a public health issue, not a criminal one. The drugs were still illegal but now getting caught with them meant a small fine and maybe a referral to a treatment program, not jail time and a criminal record. Drug-induced deaths have decreased steeply since then. Portugal's drug mortality rate is now the lowest in Western Europe, one-tenth the rate of Britain or Denmark, and about one-fiftieth the latest number for the U.S.https://mic.com/articles/110344/14-years-after-portugal-decriminalized-all-drugs-here-s-what-s-happening
People often ask how current political representation might be improved, to avoid the cheap point scoring and sloganeering of elected/campaigning politicians. One option might be to trial an Upper House selected by lot - a Citizens' Senate - with an advisory role, to start with.
Senators (say 99) would be recruited at random - like a jury - from the Australian population, with a third rotated out every 2 to 3 years. Consider it paid National Service. If nothing else, there'd be 50% women, and it would provide an insight into the thinking of everyday Australians, away from the parti-political machinations of elected representatives. www.newdemocracy.com.au
