time to lower the BAC limit - New Zealand Police Association

More documents

Recommendations

Info

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceReducing blood alcohol limits part of agreater plan to make our roads saferBy Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsFor years now NZ Police have been banging on the door of successive governments with a plea toreduce the allowable blood alcohol level for drivers to 50 mg per 100 ml.As this issue was due to go to press, Cabinetwas due to discuss just such a proposal.Police want a reduction in both the adult andteenage drivers’ legal blood alcohol limits.Since the current New Zealand blood alcoholconcentration (BAC) level of 80mg/100ml or0.08% for adult drivers was set in December1988, a mountain of scientific evidencehas been produced both internationally andlocally, which supports the case for reducingthe level to 50 mg/100ml or 0.05%.The push for a lower BAC limit is just part ofa larger strategy to address New Zealand’sbinge-drinking culture.Tragic statsThe most recent road statistics availableindicate that approximately 25% of driversinvolved in fatal crashes had blood alcohollimits in excess of the current BAC limit. Bloodalcohol tests could be carried out on 81% ofdrivers involved in fatalities in those years.National Road Policing Manager,Superintendent Paula Rose, is keen tosee the limit reduced. So is the PoliceAssociation. The Association has supportedPolice moves to reduce the limits forunder-20 drivers, who do not have a fulldrivers’ licence to zero, and adults (downto 50 mg/100 mls). The Association madesubmissions to this effect to the Justiceand Electoral Committee, which consideredsubmissions on the Sale and Supply ofLiquor Enforcement Bill in April last year.“The detection option has seen theaddition of two super booze buses joinour enforcement fleet and these arebased in Auckland, which has the largestconcentration of motorists in the country.The regularity of ‘catches’ is concerning andcertainly emphasises the need for us to bevigilant in targeting drink drivers. As part ofthis we are mixing up tactics and changingoperating hours,” Ms Rose said.The visibility of booze buses also provides animportant deterrent.In the last year, Police have added a further200 alcohol testing devices to their arsenal– bringing the total on issue to over 2,000.Long processMs Rose said that while there was work stillbeing done on reducing alcohol levels it hadbeen “a long process”. “In the meantime,Police are keeping pace with what ishappening overseas as well as keeping upwith research into how we can do thingsbetter,” she said.The impetus for a reduction in theallowable BAC has come from a varietyof agencies with Police, the AccidentCompensation Corporation (ACC), theAlcohol Advisory Council and the MinistryOverseas experience showslowering the blood-alcohollimit from 80mg to 50mgcould save 14 lives andprevent 260 serious injuriesa year. Statistics show thatpeople who have even thecurrent legal amount ofalcohol in their blood are30 percent more likely to beinvolved in an accident.of Health drug policy team having backed arecommendation for a Ministry of Transportevaluation. The campaign to lower the limitis part of a wider brief to respond to NewZealander’s ‘binge drinking’ culture.Worldwide callThe bulk of the evidence for a reductionin the BAC limit comes from countries,which have implemented lower legal limitsof 50mg or less. It is so compelling that ithas encouraged widespread calls for theestablishment of 50mg adult BAC limits fromvarious worldwide health and road safetyorganisations - including the World MedicalAssociation, Americanand British MedicalAssociations, WorldHealth Organisation,EuropeanCommission,European TransportSafety Council,• Steven Joyce,Royal Society forthe Ministerthe Prevention of of Transport,will take theAccidents, Internationalproposals toTransportation Safety lower the bloodAssociation, Association alcohol limits toCabinet.for the Advancement ofAutomotive Medicine, American College ofEmergency Physicians, and the AustralianTransport Safety Bureau.While successive governments have, overthe years, prevaricated on the call for lowerlimits, the public is in favour of a harder line.A recent UMR Research Ltd survey foundthat 76% of respondents favoured reducingthe legal allowable blood alcohol limit fordriving.Minister of Transport, Steven Joyce had afairly stock standard reply when Police Newsasked him whether the Government was anynearer implementation of the Police proposalto lower the limits. “The Government takesdrink driving very seriously. Our currentfocus in this area is on strong enforcementof the existing laws, and education,” he said.More resolve?Since then the Government’s resolve is likelyto have strengthened on the back of somehorrific crash statistics, which have putearlier road toll reduction targets in jeopardy.Clearly the drink-driving message is slow ingetting through to some New Zealanders.The Easter weekend holiday road toll was21. In the last 12 months (at time of writing)the road toll had increased by 6.83% from366 to 391. The trend is worrying.A Land Transport Safety Authority (now theNZ Transport Agency) study in 2004 foundthat a third of drivers still believe the risk126June 2010
New Zealand Police Associationof being caught drink driving is small. In2004, 46% of New Zealand drivers reportedbeing stopped at an alcohol checkpoint,whereas a similar Australian study showed82% reported being stopped (Williams et al2000).Police are committed to detecting anddeterring offenders who breach the currentalcohol limits. Highway Patrol officers, inparticular, are focused on reducing thecarnage on our roads that results from drinkdriving.NZ’s alcohol problemAlcohol is the problem behind the wheel asmuch as it is on the streets of every city andtown on Friday and Saturday nights. Policein many districts have reported that longerlicensing hours have led to disorder andstretched Police resources. Police estimatethat 70% of the incidents they attend arerelated to excessive alcohol consumption– so it is hardly surprising that convertsinto appalling road fatality statistics too.The availability of alcohol has increasedsubstantially in the last three decades.Compulsory breath testingIn 1993 a lower legal breath/blood alcohollimit for drivers aged under 20 years wasintroduced, as was compulsory (random)breath-testing. Five years later an immediate28-day licence suspension for a high breathtest reading was introduced.The most recent attempt to lower the legalBAC for driving to 50 mg/100 ml came inlate 2003 but was not supported by the thenLabour Government. A year earlier TransportMinister Paul Swain sought to halve theamount of alcohol people could consumebefore driving. His proposal apparently fellon deaf ears in Cabinet and the option wasnot taken up.The recently passed Land TransportAmendment Bill includes tougher penaltiesfor serious and recidivist drink-drivers,including lowering the legal BAC limit forroadside licence suspension and also givespolice officers extra powers to detect drugimpaireddrivers.Zero tolerance BAC for young driversNow the Government is looking at a zerotolerance alcohol limit for young drivers.It says that legislation could be passed byyear’s end. It is also looking at raising the• A FAMILY’S MESSAGE: A poignant message left by a grieving family after a drunk driverkilled a family member.- Photo courtesy of Istockphoto.com and cptpoly.legal driving age to 16. This has met withhowls of protest from Federated Farmers,who mooted an exemption for 15-year-oldsin rural areas. The Government has thusfar stood firm against that suggestion eventhough rural New Zealand has been theheartland base for voter support for theNational Party for decades. As any policeofficer worth his or her salt will tell you – thelaw must apply equally to all.The downward trend in alcohol-relateddeaths and crashes experienced during the1990s has plateaued, supporting the call fora 50 mg/100 ml BAC limit for drivers and anear-zero level for young drivers.At 80mg/100 ml for adults (30 mg/100 mlfor under 20 years), New Zealand shareswith the United Kingdom, Ireland, the UnitedStates and Canada one of the highestBAC levels among comparable countries.Australia, Japan and most of Europe have50 mg/100 ml legal limits for adults andsome (for example, Sweden at 20 mg/100ml) have lower levels.Drink driving is largely a male problem. OverJune 2010127
Page 1: The Voice of PoliceVOLUME 43 • NU
Page 4 and 5: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceAttack
Page 6 and 7: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceIla an
Page 8 and 9: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceA day
Page 10 and 11: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceWhat y
Page 12 and 13: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceWairoa
Page 16 and 17: PoliceNewsThe Voice of Police85% of
Page 18 and 19: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceLiftin
Page 20 and 21: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceSimila
Page 22 and 23: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceObitua
Page 24 and 25: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceAshes
Page 26 and 27: PoliceNewsThe Voice of Police“A s
Page 28 and 29: Police Council of SportTo contact t
Page 30 and 31: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceLife
Page 32 and 33: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceNZ Pol
Page 34 and 35: PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceWrite
Page 36: Do you want good working conditions

time to lower the BAC limit - New Zealand Police Association

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?