Cracking down on drink driving

Drink drivers kill and maim innocent people, wreck lives, and destroy families. They leave carnage on our highways and scars on our communities.

Current policies are not working. Last year 36,000 New Zealanders were convicted of drink driving. On any given day, around 100 drivers are caught over the legal limit.

It’s clear we have a big drink driving problem in New Zealand. If we can get it under control, we’ll see a lower road toll.

That’s why, last week (July 26) the National-led Government announced a package aimed at making our roads safer by cracking down on drink-driving.

We’ll put legislation in place by early next year to set a zero drink-drive limit for repeat drink drivers and for drivers under 20, and to introduce alcohol interlocks for repeat drink-drivers.

We’re also strengthening the penalties for offences including:
- Drink or drug driving causing death
- Dangerous or reckless driving causing death
- Illegal street racing causing death
- Failure to stop after a crash when someone is killed.

Tougher sanctions will bring these penalties in line with other serious offences, reflect the serious nature of these crimes, and help make our roads safer. By targeting those most likely to break the law we’re confident we’ll have a significant impact.

We’re also considering lowering the blood alcohol limit from 0.08 to 0.05. We‘ll make a final call after conducting New Zealand research on the risks posed by drivers with a blood-alcohol limit between 0.05 and 0.08.

Part of the research will tell us the actual number of serious and fatal crashes caused by drivers with a blood alcohol level between 0.05 and 0.08. This research will be done over two years.

We need to ensure New Zealanders understand the difference between 0.05 and 0.08, and what impact a change is likely to have on the road toll.

Road safety measures only work if they have the broad support of road-users. We want to be sure New Zealanders understand the benefits of a change and fully support it before proceeding. We need to take the people of New Zealand with us on this issue.

National is committed to addressing New Zealand’s drink driving problem. A zero drink drive limit for young drivers and repeat offenders, tougher penalties for reckless and dangerous driving, and new research into lowering the blood alcohol limit will help clamp down on drink drivers, reduce the carnage on our highways, and make our roads safer for all New Zealanders.