Government ignored drink-driving advice
The government chose not to lower the drink-driving limit despite receiving advice that doing so could save lives, papers show.
The government chose not to lower the drink-driving limit despite receiving advice that doing so could save lives, papers show.
Last month Transport Minister Steven Joyce said the government would wait for New Zealand-specific research over the next two years before deciding whether to lower the blood alcohol limit from 0.08 to 0.05 (50mg-80mg).
Papers obtained by Radio New Zealand under the Official Information Act show lowering the limit was the best action to reduce the number of people killed by drunk drivers.
Advice from the Ministry of Transport said a lower limit would save up to 33 lives a year.
An email from a ministry employee said statistics showed people with a blood alcohol level between 0.8 and 0.5 caused 30 deaths between 2006-2008 and a cabinet paper said keeping the same level would mean the goal of reducing the level of drink driving fatalities to the Australian rate would not be met.
NZPA
Tue, 21 Sep 2010
Tue, 21 Sep 2010
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Government ignored drink-driving advice
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