ABC News (AU)
· collected 2026-09-17 · by Georgia Loney and Chela Williams
Police in Manjimup, a town south of Perth in Western Australia, are offering $20 vouchers to drivers who test zero for alcohol during breathalyzer checks in September as part of a road safety initiative aimed at rewarding responsible behavior. Sergeant Tyler Winter of the local police department explains that this novel approach aims to acknowledge good driver conduct following an increase in traffic accidents and fatalities throughout the year. A criminologist expresses skepticism about its effectiveness but acknowledges it could foster better relations between the community and law enforcement.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 14980 · logged 2026-09-17
In short:
Police in Manjimup are handing out $20 vouchers to drivers who blow zero when breath tested during September.
asserted
breath → hand → September
Local police say they are trying to reward good driver behaviour amid a horror year on West Australian roads.
asserted
they → say → roads
A criminologist says the effectiveness of the novel approach still needs to be assessed.
asserted
effectiveness → say → approach
Police patrolling the streets of a small town in southern Western Australia are taking a novel approach to reward good drivers, offering a $20 reward to those blowing zero when breath tested.
asserted
breath → patrol → zero
Officers in Manjimup, 290 kilometres south of Perth, are handing out 100 of the $20 vouchers during traffic stops throughout September to support a local road safety initiative.
asserted
Officers → hand → initiative
Officer-in-charge Sergeant Tyler Winter said the September timeframe was a deliberate call, with football finals and the looming school holidays seeing more people on the road.
asserted
finals → say → road
"[We are] trying to recognise good driver behaviour because of the terrible road toll we are seeing this year,"he said.
asserted
we → try → toll
"If they are doing the right thing, if they are not breaking any laws, and they blow zero, then we may give them one of the $20 vouchers."
uncertain
we → do → vouchers
He said the unique inversion of the no-tolerance approach to drink driving had emerged from the local road safety committee.
asserted
inversion → say → committee
"[They] thought that maybe if we have a positive interaction and reinforce when people do the right thing, then maybe the message will get through," Sergeant Winter said.
asserted
Winter → think → thing
Criminologist unconvinced
Criminologist Matthew Morgan, from the Australian Catholic University, agreed it was a novel approach, and said he would be interested to see the results.
But he said the vouchers would probably do more to build rapport between police and the community than reduce drink driving.
asserted
vouchers → agree → driving
I definitely think it's a good way of building interest with the community," Dr Morgan said.
asserted
Morgan → think → community
"[Whether] it will prevent drink driving is the million-dollar question.
asserted
prevent → prevent → driving
I'm not convinced it will."
asserted
it → convince → ?
However, Dr Morgan said research did indicate drivers tended to respond well to immediate feedback.
asserted
drivers → say → feedback
He pointed to roadside electronic speed checks, which displayed a smiling or frowning face in response to a driver's adherence to the speed limit, as a small-scale example.
asserted
which → point → example
"That instant feedback stimulates our reward systems in the brain, and it actually has been proven to limit speeding on our roads," he said.
asserted
he → stimulate → roads
"Whether you go to the football and think I'm not going to speed because I might get $20, I don't know."
uncertain
I → go → 20
The vouchers, worth $2,000, were funded through Drug and Alcohol support service Holyoake, which sits on the local road safety committee.
asserted
which → fund → committee
Team leader Jo Woodruff said the organisation would ask police to collect data to help them assess how effective the program had been.
asserted
program → say → data
"This effectively is our first run, so it is going to be our baseline, with the hope that we would do this in subsequent years and see some improvements," she said.
asserted
she → go → improvements
"It really does recognise people who are doing the right thing around Manjimup during the footy season."
asserted
who → recognise → season
A WA police spokesperson said it supported a variety of local Blow Zero initiatives around the state, with Moora police in the Wheatbelt previously trying a similar voucher program.
asserted
police → say → program
"They are not WA police state-wide enforcement programs and are not typically subject to formal performance measures or statewide statistical reporting," the spokesperson said.
asserted
spokesperson → say → measures
With next weekend's AFL Grand Final falling on the King's Birthday long weekend in WA, double demerits will be in force across the state.
asserted
demerits → fall → state
The Aporia