Drink driving way down

Amy Adams announced:

Drink driving charges have halved since 2009, says Justice Minister Amy Adams.

Latest drink driving offence figures show the number of people charged in 2016 was 16,304 compared to 31,933 in 2009.

“Almost 16,000 fewer people were charged with drink driving offences in 2016 compared to 2009. That’s a 49 per cent decrease in seven years, reflecting a better understanding by New Zealanders of the dangers of drink driving,” says Ms Adams.

“It is particularly encouraging to see fewer young people being charged with and convicted of drink driving. Since 2009, the number of convictions among people under 25 has dropped 60 per cent to 5236 in 2016.

That’s great news, and reinforces that the drinking age of 18 has not let to an increase in youth drink driving.

If you look at teenagers only, the number of drink driving convictions has dropped from 6,617 in 2009 to 1,888 in 2016 – a huge drop.