Slow taxis blamed for drink driving

A bar owner says impatient patrons are driving drunk because taxis are turning up late.

Ross Swenson, who owns the Kiwi Spirit bar in Hinemoa St, Rotorua, said one of his patrons had last week called a cab at 1am and was still waiting at 3am for it to arrive.

A bar staff member drove the man home, but there had been other times where people who had been drinking for much of the evening had decided to drive home themselves.

"We rang Rotorua Taxis twice [for the patron] and got told by the dispatcher they only had one driver on, end of story.

"It's part of our host responsibility to provide alternative transport home for our patrons. How can we if there are no taxis working?"

Rotorua police Constable Brett Cooper said not being able to get a taxi was "a lame excuse" for drink driving.

"If people make the decision to get a taxi then they are not fit to drive. There are plenty of options."

The vast majority of drink drivers were caught between 11pm and 4am, Traffic Alcohol Group leader Sergeant Denton Grimes said.

"That coincides with when the bars close and it's the ones in the residential areas as well as the city bars. We always ask [people over the limit] where it is where they had their last drink and the majority say it was at their home or a friend's place, rather than a bar," he said.

Rotorua Taxis chairman Tom Hulton said there would have been two taxis on duty on the weekday morning referred to by Mr Swenson. "I'm aware of the incident in question and we did have a couple of cars on at that time, which was unusually busy for them."

He said it was a "load of rubbish" that a dispatcher had stated there was only one cab working. "The dispatcher may have said 'We have one cab available'."

His company was required by law to have at least one cab on the road at any one time.

Mr Hulton said his company would have a look at staffing levels.

"This is something I would like to resolve. It's a supply and demand thing and the supply and demand goes up and down. We can't have one cab out there all night just doing nothing."

Reg Hennessy, another local bar owner, said he had not experienced many taxi difficulties in the central city, although there were frequently delays in cabs arriving at the Mitchell Downs Tavern.

"We do get a heavy presence of taxis at this end of town when we need them. We do try to get people home safely," he said.

He was investing in a courtesy van to cater for his Irish bar in Tutanekai St, as well as the "overflow" from Mitchell Downs.

Tracey Bult, a spokesperson for O'Malley's Irish Bar said two out of 10 times, on a busy night, people could wait up to an hour for a taxi.

"It depends on how you approach them though. A lot of our punters sit out the back of the bar because that's where you can smoke so they don't see the taxi pull up or other times people from the movie theatre will pinch them."

She said working in the bar she has built up quite a rapport with Rotorua taxi companies.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)