KEY POINTS:
More than 330 drivers face drink-driving charges after one of the country's biggest police blitzes - which one psychologist says proves that anti-drink-drive messages are not working.
Police are shocked at the number of drink-drivers they nabbed, after they pulled over 52,000 motorists in the 12 hours to
6am yesterday.
One man who was over the limit called his wife to collect him - and she was charged with drink-driving when she arrived. In total, 335 people face charges.
Waitemata road policing manager, Superintendent John Kelly, said 44 drink-drivers caught in his area - out of 5400 motorists stopped - was a "fairly high result".
"It's disappointing, especially considering there had been publicity about the operation and people still do it. It speaks more of an ingrained culture than anything else, and New Zealanders need to get over it."
Psychologist Sara Chatwin pointed to a "scarily intrinsic part of our culture" which accepted drink-driving.
Chatwin said advertising campaigns may not be strong enough: "The message is that if you drink and drive you are a bloody idiot. Actually, if you drink and drive you are a murderer. People need to be told that."
Drink-drivers are responsible for about a third of all road deaths. And for every 100 drunk drivers or riders killed in road crashes, 55 of their passengers and 35 sober road-users die with them.
Police were disappointed by the figures from the fourth nationwide operation this year. A total of 150,000 cars were stopped in the campaigns, and 1163 drivers charged.
"For every 1000 cars we stop, approximately eight are driven by drunk drivers, and these rates simply continue," said a spokesman.
Auckland city road policing manager, Inspector Heather Wells, said employers hosting Christmas functions needed to take more responsibility for the safety of their staff. "They are always meant to ensure there is food available for everybody, and that there are sober drivers or taxi chits. A number of them don't do this."
Wellington police stopped 11,297 vehicles in the blitz, focusing on motorway exits into and out of the city. A total of 44 people now face charges of drink driving.
Road policing manager Inspector Peter Baird said more than 60 police were involved in the swoop, which covered an area from Kapiti to the Hutt Valley. "We pulled up a whole cross-section of Wellingtonians.
"There were middle-class, middle-aged people from all walks of life. They all would have seen at least one drink-driving television advertisement. They just think it's someone else. Your average citizen is your average drink-driver."
Rebecca Williams, director of Alcohol Healthwatch, said it was frustrating to hear that people still weren't getting the message.
She was disappointed that so many drivers were behaving in a "dangerous and stupid" way.
"They are risking causing tragedy over the Christmas period for their own or others' friends and families."
Blitz snapshots
AUCKLAND:
The highest reading recorded was 963mcg - more than double the legal limit.
WELLINGTON
A driver will appear in court on his fifth drink-driving charge.
CHRISTCHURCH
A male driver was processed for drink-driving and called his wife to pick him up. However, she had also been drinking, and was also found to be over the limit.
DUNEDIN
A 27-year-old male driver trying to evade the police checkpoint turned off his lights and sped away, but missed a corner and ran into a gutter. He was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 891mcg.
