Source: New Zealand Police (District News)
Waikato Police are appalled by the number of people caught drink driving in Hamilton City over the last two weekends.
Police processed and charged 26 drink drivers over the weekend of 1-3 September and another 33 over the weekend of 8-10 September.
On this latter weekend our Impairment Prevention Team breath tested 5,273 drivers in the city.
Waikato Road Policing manager Inspector Jeff Penno was stunned and appalled by the results.
“That’s one in every 160 cars on the road over the weekend who are affected by alcohol.”
“This is not a police issue – this is a community issue. They were all drinking somewhere with someone who should have cared enough to stop their friend, partner or whānau from driving drunk.”
“These drunk drivers are driving towards you and your family. It’s simply not good enough. This is a staggering number of drunk drivers in one weekend, and doesn’t include those apprehended by the rural teams who operate in Waikato’s rural towns every weekend.”
“These results show us that there is a real and significant issue and we will be increasing our enforcement in the drink drive area. We always increase enforcement to prevent and deter those from drink driving over the Christmas period – this year Christmas is coming early to Waikato’s roads.”
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre.
