New Zealand’s DUI road risk is changing

A serious problem with driving under the influence is now being seen in New Zealand. For the first time ever, drivers under the influence of drugs have been involved in a greater number of serious crashes than those under the influence of alcohol. As a result, more people were killed as a result of drug use than alcohol use in road crashes in New Zealand during 2017. This worrying fact highlights the problem with illicit drug use in New Zealand. The result of the research into road deaths has been revealed
June 22, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

A serious problem with driving under the influence is now being seen in New Zealand. For the first time ever, drivers under the influence of drugs have been involved in a greater number of serious crashes than those under the influence of alcohol. As a result, more people were killed as a result of drug use than alcohol use in road crashes in New Zealand during 2017. This worrying fact highlights the problem with illicit drug use in New Zealand.

The result of the research into road deaths has been revealed by the Automobile Association (AA), which says that New Zealand police should be equipped with drug testing kits to help address the problem. Kits that use saliva to test for drug use amongst drivers have been employed successfully in some parts of Australia as well as Denmark, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and the UK for some time and the technology is now well proven. At present New Zealand police have to have strong reason to suspect drug use by drivers and even then, can only carry out tests based on whether a driver is physically capable of walking and turning.

According to the AA, there were 79 fatal road crashes involving drug use by drivers in 2017, compared with 70 fatal crashes involving drivers under the influence of alcohol. This highlights the increasing scale of the issue as in 2016, there were 59 fatal crashes involving drug use by drivers compared with 67 in which drivers were under the influence of alcohol.

The research shows that cannabis and methamphetamine are the most common drugs detected in the case of driving under the influence. The latter drug has seen a particular growth in use in New Zealand in recent years.

The AA is calling for the proven saliva testing kits to be employed in New Zealand and for officers to be able to carry out random testing by the roadside in a bid to tackle the issue more effectively.

Related Content

  • Better road safety can save lives worldwide
    January 24, 2017
    Road safety is an issue that rarely grabs headlines, although it is something that affects people around the globe. Road deaths account for a shockingly high percentage of deaths worldwide, with the risks being particularly high in developing countries. This poses such a threat to public health that the United Nations has been taking steps to address the issue, commencing with its Decade of Action on Road Safety in 2010. The focus has been on developing countries, due to the rapid increase in road deaths in
    Read More
  • Developments in workzone safety systems
    May 3, 2012
    Raising awareness of safety in highway work zones is a global issue, and various initiatives highlight this as Patrick Smith reports. So seriously is work zone safety taken in the United States that each year since 1999 a special week has been set aside to highlight it. Each year in April, National Work Zone Awareness Week is held to bring national attention to motorist and worker safety and mobility issues in work zones.
    Read More
  • Developments in workzone safety systems
    February 8, 2012
    Raising awareness of safety in highway work zones is a global issue, and various initiatives highlight this as Patrick Smith reports. So seriously is work zone safety taken in the United States that each year since 1999 a special week has been set aside to highlight it. Each year in April, National Work Zone Awareness Week is held to bring national attention to motorist and worker safety and mobility issues in work zones.
    Read More
  • Pan-European police actions tackles road safety
    September 18, 2014
    TISPOL operations focusing on truck and bus safety across Europe have yielded major safety benefits, as well as tackling criminal offences. The police work targeting trucks led to the discovery of nearly 1,200 illegal immigration and human trafficking offences. The action followed checks on nearly 140,000 trucks across 27 countries. A total of 44,859 offences were detected, including 421 drivers charged with alcohol and drug offences, 5,054 offences of exceeding the speed limit and 5,074 instances of driver
    Read More

Highlighted Content