The number of people caught with drugs in their system is nearly on par with alcohol-related driving offences, according to new data out by Victoria Police, revealed by Hack.

In 2018, 4634 people in Victoria were charged with a drug driving offence, compared to 5164 alcohol-related offences. That's 47 per cent and 53 per cent of people charged, respectively.

Victoria's top traffic cop, Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane, told Hack that police in his state first made it an offence to drive with drugs in your system in 1949, making them the first in the world to do so.

Vic Police has committed to conducting 150,000 roadside drug tests a year.

I think drugs and driving will be the big challenge for our community for the next decade.

"Just like we did with alcohol and driving in the 1970s, if we don't get on top of this then too many people will lose their lives from this on the roads," Assistant Commissioner Leane said.

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Victorian roadside testing searches for the presence of methylamphetamine (ice, speed etc), MDMA (AKA ecstasy) and cannabis.

Unlike alcohol-testing, which requires a threshold of 0.5 per cent blood alcohol content or higher before an offence is recorded, roadside drug testing has no threshold. That means that police simply need to find a trace element of it in your system for you to be charged.

Young people aged 18 to 25 make up 29 per cent of drug driving offenders.

The same age group make up fewer than one in five 23 per cent of drink driving offenders. The largest single age group of alcohol-related offenders is 26 to 30, making it a slighter older cohort than drug driving offences.

Assistant Commissioner Leane has warned young people to think twice about the consequences of driving with drugs in your system.

"Don't drive to the festival, or don't drive home from the dance party. Because if you've taken drugs that night, there's more than likely going to be a presence in your system and that means you could have a collision and kill somebody. The police may catch you and you could lose your licence," Assistant Commissioner Leane said.

Meth a big risk on the roads

Victoria tests the blood of people involved in fatal car crashes through its coronial inquiry system.

Assistant Commissioner Leane said those tests have found that you're more likely to die on the roads if you've got drugs in your system, compared to alcohol.

If you've got methylamphetamine in your system, you're 18 to 200 times more likely to have a collision.

"When you think about drinking and driving, if you're over 0.5 [blood alcohol content] but under 1.0, you're five to seven times more likely to be in a collision," Assistant Commissioner Leane said.

"Just don't get on the road after you've taken these substances."

Road deaths on the rise

The number of deaths on Aussie roads have increased in South Australia and Victoria.

"We've had nearly 50 per cent increase on lives lost on our [Victorian] roads this year," Assistant Commissioner Leane said.

That is, in part, because 2017 was a record-low year for fatalities. But the Assistant Commissioner admitted that there's a level of "complacency" among law enforcement and the community due to successful road campaigns in the past.

Tuesday marks a National Day of Action on Australian roads, and every state and territory police force will be targeting areas of concern.

For Victoria, that's the number of deaths happening on country roads.

"Many of our [rural and regional] roads just can't cope with the speeds that are signposted, even. Particularly in inclement weather, like a dust storm or a hail storm. We just can't continue to do the speeds that are posted," Assistant Commissioner Leane said. "You need to drive to the conditions."