For those who get behind the wheel after too many drinks, the chances of being caught drink-driving have increased significantly over the past six months, especially in Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago. Public Interest Journalism Fund reporter Guy Williams takes a look at why a specialist driving restriction team has started operating out of Queenstown, and how police across the country are conducting more roadside breath tests.
Queenstown may be New Zealand’s tourist jewel, but it also has an unenviable reputation as one of the hotspots for drink-driving.
Judges often express surprise at the number of people appearing before them in the resort court on charges of drink-driving.
The issue became a talking point in the community in 2017, when convictions in the Queenstown District Court peaked at 232, countering a nationwide downward trend.
That was the year OtagoDaily times‘sister newspaper’ mountain landscape began a two-year “name and shame” campaign that featured the names of every drunk driver convicted by the court.
Since then, the number has fallen, with last year’s 169 convictions identical to those of 2012.
Covid-19 has undoubtedly played a part in the improvement, with roadside breath screening suspended during the Level 3 and 4 lockdowns, no international tourists on the road and restrictions on the hospitality industry.
However, the trend may be short-lived.
International visitors return, as do the overseas workers who were so often on the list of defendants for drink-driving.
But the biggest change is a decision by top police officers last year to ramp up roadside breath tests across the country, reversing a downward trend since 2014.
That led to the formation of a driving restrictions or “safer roads” team in Queenstown last December.
Consisting of a sergeant and five officers, it aims to renew its focus on high-risk and drunk driving in the Otago Lakes Central policing area, stretching from Glenorchy and Makarora to Roxburgh and Ranfurly, and Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell and Alexandra.
Dedicated police teams in the Southern precinct were disbanded in early 2016. The unit in Queenstown is one of two teams back up and running so far in Otago and Southland, the other in Dunedin.
Otago Lakes Central area acting road policing manager, senior sergeant Bruce Martin, said the new team, which aims to conduct 5,000 breath tests a month, was getting “buy-in” from the drivers it retired.
“People want to see us there,” said Sr Sgt Martin.
“They don’t mind being stopped for 30 seconds or a minute because they know it makes our roads safer.
“We rarely get grumpy people telling us we’re wasting our time.”
He hoped that the deterrent of running more checkpoints and mobile stops would encourage drivers to make better decisions.
However, with the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, the opening of borders and a return to normal life for most people, he expected the increase in the number of tests to put upward pressure on convictions for driving under influence.
“It will be interesting to move forward two more years and see what the stats look like then.”
The change in road safety policy at the national level comes after years of increasing pressure on government and police to refocus on drink-driving.
Under the terms of a funding agreement with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, the police are expected to conduct three million roadside breath tests per year.
Last year, they only made it to half that number, continuing an eight-year trend.
An independent report on the effectiveness of government investments in road safety was published in January, commissioned by the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management.
It found that senior police officers had a strong awareness of road safety, but a culture of prioritizing other types of crime had persisted at the operational level.
In response, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the police recognize the need to change its approach.
A new “Safe Road Control Strategy”, finalized in December, would ensure that “our prevention and enforcement activities focus on what will have the most impact in reducing road damage”.
In Otago and Southland, roadside test numbers have set the national trend by rising over the past five years.
Superintendent James Ure, the Southern District Road Police chief, said it was “probably one of the better districts” during that period, but road safety required constant attention.
The dedicated teams in Dunedin and Queenstown were much more capable of enabling the district to meet the Waka Kotahi goals.
Those goals were based on the idea of testing every licensed driver in a given area, on average, once a year, Insp Ure said.
“Even if you don’t get them all, you might get two or three times, and talking to friends and family is a deterrent.”
The Automobile Association’s road safety spokesman Dylan Thomsen said it was clear police were determined to step up roadside testing and expected the target of 3 million to be reached next year.
“Frontline officials often struggle to do the road policing they want to do, but also respond to other needs in their area,” Mr Thomsen said.
“It’s a very difficult job because they have a limited number of officers and resources, but from a road safety point of view, we just need to get our alcohol test figures back.
“Anyone who has been driving for over a decade will remember seeing more checkpoints and stops along the way, and they’ve noticed they don’t see them as often in recent years and they aren’t stopped. .
“That does affect people’s behavior — we need drivers to know those checkpoints are there.”