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As Gerald Waters sat in court and listened to the list of previous drink-driving convictions and inept remedies passed down to the man who killed his good friend, he was so appalled he almost jumped up and shouted: "This is madness. Absolute madness."
Mr Waters, a New Zealand resident originally from Wales, was a close friend of Katherine Kennedy, who was killed when Warren Jenkins ploughed into her car near Kerikeri in March; Jenkins was last month sentenced to four years' jail.
Mr Waters, who is making a submission to the transport and industrial relations select committee today, said he could not believe his ears when the judge started reading aloud the list of previous convictions.
"Friends and family members gasped in horror at the amount of times he had been caught, convicted, then cyclically reoffended. The reporters in court had stopped writing, looking at each other and us in shock," Mr Waters said.
"The judge, it seemed to me, was embarrassed she had to read to an already devastated audience that when the offender broke the terms of his home detention, he was given more home detention.
"Caught 17 times, five times in the last five years. Eventually the judge informed us of the final insult: that he had only been released from jail for drink-driving just 10 days before he killed Katherine. Only the thought that it might affect the sentence stopped me from leaping to my feet and shouting, 'This is madness. Absolute madness'."
Mr Waters said most New Zealanders drink and drive responsibly, but the Government's proposals to deal with the issue were "weak and cheap".
The committee is considering the Government's road safety measures including a zero-limit on alcohol for drivers under 20 and repeat drink-drivers, tougher penalties for driving offences causing death, and alcohol interlocks for repeat drink-drivers.
The Government has decided to do New Zealand-specific research on the legal blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) level over the next two years, specifically for drivers with a BAC level between 50 and 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
Mr Waters said that was pointless, noting Ministry of Transport research said lowering the BAC to 50mg - along with better public awareness and enforcement - could save up to 33 lives, prevent up to 680 injuries and save up to $238 million per year.
He said the main problem was the lack of investment in assessment and rehabilitation programmes.
"If you don't deal with the underlying issue, everything else - like disqualification - is meaningless. Home detention? The guy that killed our friend had loads of home detention.
"When he broke the conditions of his home detention, do you know what he got? More home detention. How does that work?"
He said the zero-tolerance approach for drivers under 20 would mean young adults would suddenly be able to drink a lot and legally drive as soon as they turned 20.
"They can't drink and drive at all and then suddenly can then drink nine bottles [in a few hours]. They're going to get into trouble. They should move to 50mg."
