Police plan attack on drink drive repeat offenders

By SCOTT INGLIS

One-third of New Zealand's drink drivers are repeat offenders - and road safety agencies plan to stop them.

In Auckland since July 1 last year, 6030 drivers have been caught. Of those, 38 per cent had previous records - a 2 per cent increase over the previous year.

Last week, a man with 19 drink-driving convictions was arrested yet again in Auckland.

A total of 25,136 drink-drive arrests were made by police throughout New Zealand in the year ending last June.

The Land Transport Safety Authority says repeat drink-drivers are likely to be on the roads every day.

Road safety group RoadSafe Auckland has organised a Repeat Drink Driver Forum today in a bid to stop these drivers.

The forum aims to:

* Raise awareness of repeat drink-driving offences.

* Prevent alcohol-related crashes among repeat offenders.

The forum comes after police and road safety agencies identified repeat drink-drivers in Auckland as a growing problem.

Repeat drivers also record higher readings - at least twice the limit of 400 micrograms.

Fatal drink-drive crashes have dropped 80 per cent in the past 10 years.

But police and agencies said the repeat offenders ignored the justice system and the $18.2 million spent on anti-drink-drive advertising campaigns in the past six years. In the year to March 31, police conducted more than 2 million breath-screening tests.

Superintendent Alistair Beckett, who heads the north-west Auckland police district, said police were finding an "increasing number of male drunk drivers who believe they are immune from harm and the law."

"We need new initiatives to change the behaviour of repeat drink-drivers," he said.

Today, he will tell the forum there is still a "boorish bunch" who believe it is okay to drink and drive, and who even claim their driving improves under the influence.

They also offend because they have no regard for the law and because they have an alcohol problem.

Mr Beckett has launched a number of strategies, including hiring three intelligence officers to concentrate on traffic offenders and to profile repeat drink-drivers.

"If we can create the perception of sustained monitoring, combined with swift and certain punishment, we will discourage recidivist drunk drivers and reduce road carnage."

LTSA regional manager Peter Kippenberger will make a presentation about the worst repeat offenders - the "hard-core" recidivists.

His figures show these people made up 65 per cent of repeat drink-drivers caught in 1998.

They had at least two convictions in five years and recorded at least one reading of 1000 micrograms-plus or failed to cooperate with police.

All were ordered to undergo alcohol assessment to get their licences back - but only two-thirds bothered. Authorities believe they have been driving around without licences.

Andrew Bell, the Auckland Regional Council's road safety coordinator, says a repeat drink-driver is more likely to:

* Be male and aged 25-44 years.

* Drink in multiple locations.

* Be involved in fatal crashes.

* Record at least twice the legal limit.

* Reoffend within five years.

* Have an alcohol problem.

A seven-times drink-driver turned alcohol and drug counsellor, Frederick Webb, , who will attend today's forum, said answers lay in education in schools.

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