Police set to take a hard line

Police are looking to crack down on drink drivers this holiday weekend.

Police are warning Rotorua motorists to think twice before drinking and driving this Labour Weekend, especially on rural roads where most drink-driving fatalities occur.

Rotorua district road police will be highly visible breath testing drivers and enforcing holiday period speed limits this weekend.

Nationwide more than twice as many people are dying on rural than on urban roads as a result of alcohol-related crashes.

Figures released by the New Zealand Transport Agency under the Official Information Act show in the past five years, 476 alcohol-related fatal crashes were recorded on rural roads and 174 on urban roads.

In Rotorua, five alcohol-related crash fatalities were recorded on rural roads and five on urban roads.

Police said recording of alcohol-related crashes was higher on urban roads because of an increased police presence in high-traffic areas.

Rotorua road policing manager Senior Sergeant Brendon Keenan said local police were trying to combat recidivist drink drivers, many of whom had up to three separate drink-driving convictions.

While drink driving was a problem across all age groups, younger drivers tended to be more responsive to road safety messages as opposed to middle-aged drivers for whom drinking and driving was more entrenched.

Tomorrow Rotorua police will be out and about on state highways as part of Operation Presence, with numerous checkpoints set up.

National manager road policing Superintendent Carey Griffiths said alcohol-related crashes were often associated with speed and not wearing seatbelts.

"Drink drivers are not only killing themselves, they are killing other innocent road users."