Smaller booze buses targetting drunk, drugged drivers hit quiet WA streets

A pair of smaller, faster booze buses that can be redeployed multiple times per day will soon hit WA roads — including the back streets.

The two state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz vans, purchased and kitted out at a cost of $772,000, will provide police targeting drunk and drugged drivers with far more flexibility, especially in regional areas of the State.

WA Police Assistant Commissioner Paul Zanetti said both vehicles were capable of automatic number plate recognition and came equipped with Wi-Fi, fingerprint scanning technology and access to all the databases usually available to officers, allowing offenders to be processed on the spot.

“The new technology in terms of the battery systems and solar panels and the generator systems they use just adds to the mobility of the resource,” he said, adding the vans could be deployed to roads and thoroughfares that the bigger buses could not access.

“They are going to get to places where people wouldn’t normally expect to see them,” Mr Zanetti said.

“We can set up on a suburban street, we can set up on a rat-run, we can set up on a tributary road in regional WA, we could be set up near a winery for example.

“It’s not (just) about catching people — it’s about people thinking that bus can be anywhere.”

Mr Zanetti said the manoeuvrability of the vans meant they could be shifted from “Fremantle to Joondalup and back to Northbridge” in a single night.

The purchase of the new vehicles follows the retirement of one of the State’s four full-sized buses, which had been in service since 2002.

They were funded through the Road Trauma Trust Account, which receives 100 per cent of the money raised through speeding and red light traffic fines.

WA is now left with three full-size booze buses and two vans, all of which Mr Zanetti said were “out all the time”.

Police Minister Michelle Roberts said the expansion of WA’s traffic enforcement fleet reinforced police’s “anywhere, any time” mantra.

"I hope people will heed the message and if you plan to drink, then make a plan to get home, that doesn't involve driving yourself,” Ms Roberts said.