Drink-driving down, but road toll soaring
New Zealand’s drink-driving convictions are dropping – on paper at least – but all other evidence suggests the problem is worsening.
Our road toll is soaring, research shows more people are drink-driving to the grave, and while convictions are dropping there are still 10 New Zealand recidivist drink drivers convicted daily. Despite jail being a real option for those on their thirdor-subsequent offence, few are ending up in prison.
While police maintain stopping impaired drivers remains one of the main behaviours it targets, those who live and breathe road safety believe the lower conviction rates come down to less roadside alcohol checks.
Police were unable to immediately supply details of how many roadside checks were now done.
But AA motoring policy spokesman Mike Noon understood there had been a reduction in roadside impaired tests undertaken by police which could be why conviction rates have dropped.
‘‘Police say they are being more targeted – I think they may be doing less detection.’’
Ministry of Justice figures, released under the Official Information Act, show that five years ago there were 4854 convictions for the third or subsequent drink-driving offence. That number dropped till two years ago when it reached 3588 then a slight increase last financial year to 3696.
The ministry was unable to immediately say how many of those recidivist drink-drivers ended up in jail but did have details for all drink-driving imprisonments. Since the 2009-2010 year to the last financial year, jail sentences dropped from 1370 steadily down to 550.
Ministry of Transport figures show 52 people had died on New Zealand roads in the year till Thursday. That was better than the 60 by the same time last year but worse than any of the preceding three years. Last year turned out to be the worst year on New Zealand’s roads in a decade.
National road policing manager Steve Greally couldn’t comment on the Justice figures but said the police focus was on keeping people safe.
‘‘Our staff target the four main behaviours we know contribute to death and injury on the road; people not wearing seatbelts, drivers driving impaired by alcohol, drugs, or fatigue, distracted drivers, and drivers going too fast for the conditions.
‘‘We are committed, alongside our partner agencies, to continuing our work to reduce trauma on New Zealand roads.’’
Dogandlemon.com editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, an outspoken road safety campaigner, was not convinced repeat drink-driving was on the decline.
‘‘Successive governments have attempted to replace police patrols and checkpoints with devices such as speed cameras.
‘‘This has led to an increase in speeding tickets, without a decrease in the road toll.
‘‘The reality is, the reduction in police patrols and checkpoints has probably meant that repeat drink-drivers are simply being caught less often.’’
This time last year, forensic toxicologist Hilary Hamnett led a study looking at alcohol and drugs in dead New Zealand drivers and motorcyclists.
In 2014 there were 30 road-deaths with positive alcohol readings, while the following year there were 48.
As a proportion of all road fatalities, those with alcohol involved rose from 11 per cent in 2014 to 14 per cent in 2015. The number of fatalities involving people who were over the drink-drive limit at the time also increased in 2015.
Hamnett found that New Zealanders who died on the roads were more likely to have been drinking after the drink-driving limit dropped, those that had been drinking had higher blood-alcohol readings, and were more likely to also have drugs in their systems.