The government has been asked to consider extending drug diversion programs to recidivist drink drivers as a sentencing tool.
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Ninety-three submissions to a Legislative Council inquiry on road safety were published on Friday.
In one from Community Legal Centres Tasmania, policy officer Ben Bartl proposed drug treatment orders be expanded to include alcohol dependence where substance abuse had contributed to the offending behaviour.
He said Tasmania had a higher proportion of fatalities than other Australian jurisdictions, except for Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Mr Bartl said more than 1500 Tasmanians were sentenced each year for drink and drug driving.
"In Tasmania, the likely presence of alcohol and drugs was listed as a contributory factor in around 28.5 per cent of all crashes," he said.
"With the research demonstrating that around one in three fatal crashes is attributable to alcohol and/or other drugs, this equates to around 10 Tasmanians and 80 suffering serious injuries in Tasmania each year because of drink and drug driving."
Mr Bartl said the harshest sentence for drink driving in Tasmania was imprisonment, but 90 per cent of those who were imprisoned were released within six months.
"Even if we doubled the sentence the offender would still be released within a year," he said.
"In short, harsher sentencing is pointless if it does not address the underlying cause of the offending."
Mr Bartl said the Sentencing Advisory Council and the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute had both recommended extending drug treatment orders to include alcohol dependence.
The RACT in its submission said the state government's target of less than 200 deaths and serious injuries by 2025 would not be reached despite safer cares, an upgraded licensing scheme, road infrastructure improvements, and community campaigns.
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It said there had been a lack of progress on implementing key elements of the state's Road Safety Action Plan.
"In particular there has been excessive delay in renewing and expanding Tasmania's road safety camera network to include technology that detects and not just speed, but mobile phone use and seatbelt infringements," it said.
"There is still no progress on a speed management and community engagement strategy, and a new motorcycle training regime has still not been advanced."
The RACT said the targets set by the National Road Safety Strategy had also not been met.
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Political reporter for Australian Community Media, based in Hobart.
Political reporter for Australian Community Media, based in Hobart.
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