One-quarter were unauthorised drivers, Victoria Police said.
Police detected more drug drivers in Pakenham than anywhere else in Victoria.Credit: Jason South
The broader region also recorded the most collisions involving drug and alcohol-impaired drivers of anywhere in the state. Six in 10 of its drug drivers were repeat offenders.
“It’s not only extremely concerning that half of drug drivers in our area have been caught for the same offence before, but also reckless,” Cardinia Highway Patrol Acting Sergeant Kristina Tabone said.
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“We see too often the tragic consequences of poor choices on our roads. If drivers continue to take illicit substances and decide to drive, tragedy is inevitable.”
Victoria Police is concentrating officers in Pakenham and its surrounding areas to catch drug drivers.
The third-worst suburbs for drug drivers in the state were Frankston, also in Melbourne’s far south-east, and Shepparton, in Victoria’s north.
Over the past 20 years, Pakenham, which is about 55 kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, has transitioned from a country town to a mega-suburb where the local population ballooned from 17,225 in 2000 to almost 55,000 in 2021, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
By 2041, 83,000 people are forecast to live in Pakenham.
Adele Leeming, who has lived in Pakenham since 2010, said she had noticed a higher police presence in the area recently, including mobile security cameras.
“We have the [police] helicopter here quite often … they’ve done a lot [of patrolling] around the shops … which is really good,” she said.
While Leeming said she had encountered other issues such as vandalism and hoon driving, her experience in the south-eastern suburb has been overall a positive one.
“I’ve never really felt unsafe,” she said.
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