Byron ranks fourth in NSW drink-driving rates as Farand, mayor cite lack of transport

The Northern Rivers town, known as a haven for artists and creatives, is centred on Byron Bay but includes surrounding hubs such as Ocean Shores, Mullumbimby and Bangalow, each about 20 kilometres apart. Scant shuttle services mean residents can barely navigate the bus timetable during daylight hours, let alone at night, according to Byron Shire Mayor Sarah Ndiaye.

“I have chosen to rent a room in town at substantial expense to attend events in case I have more than one drink,” Ndiaye said. She noted that over the Easter weekend a free bus service funded by the council saw well over 1000 users in 48 hours, but that a $50 each-way Uber trip is unaffordable in a cost-of-living crisis.

Angus Farand, now 24, survived a crash in which a drunk driver was at the wheel of a car hitting 140 km/h on the Pacific Motorway. Minutes earlier, the designated driver had said she was too intoxicated to drive, and another person volunteered; the group did not notice she was also drunk. “I was gripping the roof and just like looking down the barrel, thinking, ‘Shit, this could be it’,” he said. The car veered off the highway and spun out before hitting trees. Farand said no one was killed or gravely injured. A policewoman later told him she had recently attended a similar crash with multiple teenagers dead.

Byron Shire’s rate is at a 10-year low but remains elevated compared with the state average. The top five local government areas for drink-driving offences per capita also include Bogan, Coonamble, Lachlan and Bourke.

District Inspector Matt Woods said 457 people in the shire were booked for drink and drug driving offences from July 2025 to June 2026. Over summer, police will increase their presence to carry out more random breath and drug-testing operations.

Community members have taken informal measures. Byron Youth Theatre director Lisa Apostolides said she has a policy of driving young people home when they call, and that students have told her about cramming into cars with someone in the boot. “If there’s less transport, then people are gonna just take risks because they want to go out,” she said. Locals also use WhatsApp and Facebook groups to ask for lifts; Apostolides questioned who monitored or joined them, saying there was no safety measure.

Following questions from the Herald, Minister for Regional Transport Jenny Aitchison said the government would schedule more than 670 extra weekly bus services in the region from December 6, adding to 175 extra weekly services introduced in the Tweed and Murwillumbah areas earlier this year.

Lydia Kindred, director of the Northern Rivers Rail campaign group, is pushing for the restoration of the rail line that once connected Sydney and Murwillumbah. She said an updated study found the cost would be a quarter of an earlier government estimate. Currently, a three-kilometre solar-powered train line connects Byron Bay’s town centre with hotels, with no direct passenger trains to Sydney or Brisbane.