Annual road deaths are steadily increasing despite lowering the adult alcohol limit and making alcohol interlock devices compulsory for repeat drunk drivers, or those caught at a very high alcohol level. This problem affects us all, so we need to find better ways to protect our communities from impaired drivers.

I was disappointed to discover that the number of annual road deaths where a driver was above the limit or refused to submit to a breath or blood test has risen from 48 people in 2014 to 79 in 2020. In the five years from 2016 to 2020, there was an average of 78 road deaths each year involving a driver above the legal alcohol limit. That works out to be one out of every five road deaths involving a drunk driver.

If you include the number of deaths where a driver tested positive for drugs, this number increases to two out of every five road deaths. In other words, rather than improving on-road safety, we seem to be going backwards.

Roadside testing
While deaths involving alcohol and drugs have been rising, the number of alcohol checkpoints on the roads have been decreasing. In 2014, the police did about 3,000,000 roadside alcohol tests, and there were 48 deaths involving drunk drivers. In more recent years, roadside alcohol tests were about 1,500,000 and annual deaths involving drunk drivers have ranged from 79 to 87.

A recent independent review of the government’s work delivering on its road safety targets highlights that road police officers can be diverted to other duties 30% of the time. The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly been responsible for increasing demands on the police, which hasn’t helped. But now that the worst of this appears to be behind us, it’s time to bring the number of roadside tests back up again. Compulsory random roadside oral-fluid testing for drugs is set to begin in early 2023. Hopefully, the combination of these two testing regimes will be more of a deterrent for people who are currently just running the risk and hoping they won’t get caught.

Legislative changes
You may recall that in 2014, the adult alcohol limit was lowered. It is now an offence to drive with more than 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath or 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. In 2018, alcohol interlock devices were made mandatory for drivers who had either two qualifying convictions within five years or a single offence with a breath alcohol reading of more than 800 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath or 160 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

An alcohol interlock device is an excellent physical barrier to prevent someone with alcohol in the system from driving because their car won’t start if there is any alcohol present. In 2020, there were a few thousand alcohol interlocks in use in New Zealand, which prevented 37,061 attempts by someone with alcohol in their system to start a vehicle. That equates to every single interlock in a car preventing 10 attempts to drive.

Recidivist offenders
More targeted measures are required to deter repeat drunk and drugged drivers. I speak from personal experience when I say there appears to be a significant proportion of impaired drivers who have substance abuse problems that go well beyond their driving. Often the court is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff left to help someone try and rehabilitate themselves by addressing their substance abuse issues as part of their sentence. This often takes the form of supervision or intensive supervision, which requires the offender to meet regularly with a corrections officer who can direct them to attend programmes that would benefit their recovery.

There are now also therapeutic courts, such as the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court, which have recognised that alcohol and drugs cause great harm to society, and focus on situations where substance abuse and offending are intertwined.

What can I do?
A community response is needed to stop drunk and drugged driving. Our attitudes towards road safety matter if we want to keep our whanau safe. Many people don’t drink at all if they are going to be driving, which is to be encouraged. Please do not let your friends and family attempt to drive if they are impaired. They may not thank you for it at the time but you could be saving a life. Be a responsible host when you are serving alcohol and have options for people to get home safely without driving.

I have lost count of the number of times that clients have told me that they didn’t want to pay for a taxi to get home after they’d had a few drinks because it was too expensive. They end up kicking themselves afterwards because the fines, court costs, offender levy and loss of licence they face ends up costing them twice or three times as much, not to mention the stress and anxiety it causes them and their families. They will also have to live with the stigma of being a drunk driver, and you can’t put a price on a clean court record.