A radical program from the United States which requires drink-driving offenders to stay sober is producing some impressive results, with Australian researchers suggesting authorities should consider adopting the approach here.

Drink-driving is one of the three main causes of accidents and deaths on Australian roads — along with speed and distraction — and in South Dakota in the United States, it is no different.

But in 2005 authorities there introduced a radical pilot program called 24/7 Sobriety.

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Professor Beau Kilmer from the RAND Drug Policy Centre in California, who has been evaluating the program’s outcomes, told the Annual Scientific Alcohol and Drug Conference in Perth the results so far had been encouraging.

“It’s an innovative program that’s intended to reduce heavy alcohol consumption for those individuals whose use leads them to repeatedly threaten public health and public safety,” Professor Kilmer said.

The program requires participants to submit to regular alcohol testing which, if they fail, means a short jail term.

“Most of the people that are participating in South Dakota would blow into a breathalyser twice a day — morning and night — and if they test positive they’ll go to jail for the night,” Professor Kilmer said.

Others wear a continuous alcohol monitoring device that records alcohol consumption through sweat.

Professor Kilmer said the idea was to have swift sanctions in place that could create a credible deterrent threat, but, most importantly to separate offenders from their drinking rather than their vehicles.

The trial was so successful it was later rolled out in other counties.

US researchers found there was typically a 12 per cent reduction in repeat drink-driver arrests in those areas.

Australia’s National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre director Professor Michael Farrell said it was a very interesting and exciting program that may be worth pursuing locally.

“It’s well worth seeing if the program can be replicated in Australia,” he told the ABC.

Professor Kilmer said there was also a link between the drink-driving deterrent program and domestic violence arrests.

“We also found that there was a 9 per cent reduction in the total number of domestic violence arrests, which is really fascinating to us because most of the people in the program aren’t there for domestic violence,” Professor Kilmer said.

“It makes sense. If you get a bunch of 18 to 40-year-old guys who drink too much and you get them to reduce their alcohol consumption, even if it’s for only six months, at the community level you’re going to see effects.”

He said a similar program had been adopted in Hawaii targeting methamphetamine users, which had also reported success.