Police tactics beat drinkers

Police have adapted their tactics to combat a new breed of drink drivers who think they can avoid detection by staying out later than police.

Auckland city road policing manager Inspector Heather Wells said the all-night hours of some bars had led some drinkers to think that if they stayed out late drinking they could avoid the police by driving home close to dawn.

"The trend has changed and people tend to go into entertainment a lot later, stay out a lot later and go home in the early hours of the morning," she said.

"They think there won't be any cops around but that is not right now."

The five hours from 3am to 8am were now considered high risk periods for drink drivers and police have changed the timing of some of their drink driving check points.

In Auckland police regularly close motorway on-ramps with drink driving blitzes that last until 8 or 9 on Sunday mornings.

Last weekend the police blocked every motorway on-ramp from the central city and checked 13,810 drivers. They charged 140 with drink driving - including a woman who was three times over the limit and a man who was stopped twice.

Ms Wells said what emerged from last weekend's blitz was worse than from a similar one early in October. Fewer people were checked last weekend but the same number of drink drivers were detected.

"It just didn't stop. The traffic flow was continuous with people driving around and leaving the city."

She said nearly one driver in 100 was over the limit.

"I just can't believe, with the amount of enforcement, the education programmes and the advertising, people just aren't taking notice of it."

She said police would not give up and drink drivers would be caught.

"I am happy we got them off the road and we got them while they were in the city before they went out on to main arterial routes, on to motorways or out into country roads."

Ms Wells said many of those caught drove because they still believed it could not happen to them.

Police were amazed at the steadiness of the woman who was more than three times over the limit.

- NZPA