New Zealand’s new road policing targets drunk or drugged drivers
WELLINGTON, Aug 19: New Zealand’s new NZ$1.3 billion ($790 million) road policing investment program aims to improve road safety across the country by targeting drunk or drugged drivers, a leading cause of fatal crashes, according to the Ministry of Transport.
The program, to be implemented between 2024 and 2027, will increase the target of roadside alcohol breath tests from 3 million tests to 3.3 million per year, as well as 50,000 roadside drug checks per year, Xinhua news agency reported.
The program package, released by Transport Minister Simeon Brown on Sunday, also focuses on high-risk times, requiring that 65 per cent of breath tests be conducted at times of high or extreme alcohol risk.
Brown said the plan has clear goals for police to focus on the most risky times, behaviours and places, adding that speed offences on open roads and in high-risk locations are also a focus of the program.
“Alcohol and drugs are the biggest contributing factors to fatal road crashes in New Zealand,” he said. He said between 2019 and 2022, crashes involving drugged drivers claimed an average of 105 lives each year and accounted for about 30 per cent of all road fatalities in the country. The minister said breath tests have a clear deterrent effect on those who risk drinking and driving.
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