The Star: June 15, 2017

14 Thursday June 15 2017
Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
The Star
News
Changing attitudes lower the number
• By Bridget Rutherford
DRINK DRIVING charges have
almost halved in Canterbury
over the past decade – a shift
police say is down to changed
attitudes.
The latest drink driving figures
show the number of people
charged for driving under the influence
of alcohol in Canterbury
was 1658 last year, compared
with 2543 in 2007.
Of those, 1604 were convicted
last year. There were 2433 convictions
in 2007.
Nationally, the number has
dropped from 27,328 a decade
ago, compared with 16,304 in
2016.
Canterbury
road policing
manager
Inspector Al
Stewart (left)
said police were
encouraged by
the downward
trend.
“The trauma and grief caused
by an alcohol-related serious
crash is massive, so less people
affected by alcohol on our roads
make them safer for all road
users and reduces harm in our
communities.”
He said changing public
POPULAR: Sullivans Irish Bar manager Subhadra Marshall
pours a class of Mac’s light beer. PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
attitudes to drink driving was
the reason for the decline. It
was not seen as acceptable any
more, he said.
Inspector Stewart said police
had made strategic efforts targeting
alcohol harm, especially on
the roads.
“This has been supported by
the lower drink driving limits
which have encouraged people
to think about their drinking
behaviour and plan to make it
home safely.”
The breath-alcohol limit was
lowered from 400mcg/L to
250mcg/L in December, 2014.
But the limit that triggered
prosecution at court was
400mcg/L.
The latest stats did not include
the number of people given an
infringement notice for driving
over the 250mcg/L limit since it
changed.
But in 2014, the number of
people charged in Canterbury
was 2235, before dropping to
1852 in 2015 and again in 2016.
Bars and pubs have noticed
people are more aware of what
they were drinking, with many
patrons now choosing light beers
and wines.
Valley Inn Tavern owner Dean
Calvert said since the new limit
was introduced in 2014, they had
noticed patrons were buying a lot
more food and snacks to go with
their drink.
“People are eating before they
drive.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Number of drink driving
charges in Canterbury in the
last five years:
2012: 2900
2013: 2472
2014: 2235
2015: 1852
2016: 1658
Number of convictions in
Canterbury in the last five
years:
2012: 2795
2013: 2392
2014: 2187
2015: 1796
2016: 1604
The sale of lower alcohol beer
had also been on the rise, he
said.
“There’s definitely a lot more
people drinking the Monteith’s
Mid Strength Ale.”
They had a courtesy van for 14
years and it had always been very
well used, he said.
Sullivans Irish Bar owner
Mark Sullivan said they had
a wide range of non-alcoholic
beverages, as well as low alcohol
beer and alcohol-reduced wine.
They also sold an Edenvale
non-alcoholic wine, he said.
“There definitely has been a
shift to no-alcohol products.”
STREET PARTY 23RD JUNE 6PM – 10:30PM
EVENTS PROGRAMME ON FACEBOOK & LYTTELTON.NET.NZ
17-24th JUNE
No parking in Lyttelton. Shuttle buses running from Eastgate & Chapmans Rd. Extra 28 & 535 services running.