CANDOR MEDIA RELEASE

Drink Drive Message Mouldy - Anachronistic

"Drinkers are not getting the message to keep under limits because half of them are stoned when they watch LTNZ adverts, they are not keeping count of their drinks - again because they are stoned".

Only Grand-dad finds decades old messages relevant, say Candor. The problem today is celebrities like Dylan Karaka killing people while smashed on pot and getting 100 hours community service as "he didn't know," and P heads luring Cops into chases.

Statistics show the number of prosecutions for drink-driving increased from 29,052 in 2005 to 31,266 in 2006 and that increased enforcement is not working to reduce the toll.

"People aren't stupid - it's just the message targets Golden Oldies, our regime for testing for substance impairment isn't fit for purpose, and checkpoints are like sieves letting most impaired drivers through".

The Trust is concerned that lobby groups under pressure within the Police are promoting a distorted view of road safety priorities, given the push for lower limits.

But it's not just about alcohol these days. The U.N Office of Drugs and Crime, has this month encouraged slow coach Countries to fast adopt driver drug testing.

Police have all the scientific proof they need of THC being the gasoline to our raging road toll fire, but it seems they too are unable to "get the message" even when faced with pot and P mayhem daily.

Modern road Police forces don't deal exclusively with alcohol whilst ignoring killer drugs, they recognise synergies and respond.

Yet there continues a constant stream of propaganda about speed and alcohol while the other oars in the road safety life raft of drug driving and fatigue education are denied to the Public, often at cost to life and limb.

Alcohol is estimated to have contributed to approximately 115 road deaths in 2005 (30% of dead drivers aren't tested) - a toll perhaps less than that wrought by drug driving, but the social cost of alcohol crashes of $748 million last year is not so cut and dried.

A recent ESR study has shown that pure bred drink drivers are the exception rather than the rule nowadays, for drug highs more often than not seem to be exacerbating the impairment of drinkers and non drinkers who unexpectedly land themselves in the death toll.

Preliminary results from the ESR Drug Driving study revealed that half of todays deceased drink drivers may well have indulged in other intoxicants and that only 14% of dead drink drivers were solely fans of alcohol. The tinny house was known to the other drinkers.

For a slightly higher percentage had used both alcohol and marijuana. The missing link has been found and it is cannabis. It and other drugs largely explain NZ's failure to hammer the toll, and the alcohol related part so successfully as all the Nations which drug test.

Based upon the most recent Police estimates of the prevalence of drug impaired driving in New Zealand Candor Trust places the social cost of drug impaired driving (where alcohol was not also an added factor) in the ballpark of $320 million yearly.

The social cost of drug driving crashes in hospital bills, lost productivity and so forth is in the vicinity of $520 million if drug and alcohol "combiners" are considered.

So the total cost of drug and alcohol impaired driving is likely well upwards of one billion dollars yearly.

Candor's analyses of statistics indicates that a drug intoxicated driver is likely culpable in collisions that kill around 150 people on the road yearly.

Their higher involvement in multi vehicle and multi fatality crashes than that of the purebred drink drivers makes them an ideal target for pro active policy.

The greatest risk for Kiwis and especially in the demographic which is causing our road toll increase (twenty to thirties) is clearly from drugs, and drug cocktails as the two research studies from NZ's ESR fair trumpet, along with International evidence.

An Auckland study found that our pot smoking population has 10x their fair share of crashes, and though they are but 2 -5% of the general driving population smokers occupy a full fifty percent of the morgue chillers allocated to Kiwis killed in crashes (ESR 2005).

Brault's study of thousands of drivers found that only heavy cannabis use was significant in increasing culpability in crashes (over twice the chance of being at fault).

Most significantly the combination with any alcohol created an infinite crash risk, equal to that of those with high blood alcohol levels.

Brault also found that below limit drivers are at a reduced risk for culpability in crashes than sobre drivers with an OR of 0.7.

"It's just not a big issue with only 2 people dying here yearly at the blood alcohol level Police want to ban".

But 2-3 dying here weekly from drug related crashes (often involving alcohol as a contributing factor yet Government has said 'hold' to publicity about is the hidden disaster", say Candor.

The Malaysians lately found that addressing drug driving properly with a good testing and penalty regime reduced the tested population's road toll by nearly half.

"The fact that the number of lives lost in motorcycle accidents went down to nine on Sunday (from an average of 17) was probably due to the IGP's move to implement urine tests for motorcyclists," said Malaysias federal police chief in November.

15 motorcyclists had tested positive for heroin and ganja on the first Sunday when the testing was trialed, which perhaps just saved their lives. They will be banned from riding for two years.

Police here however are rather uninspired in saying the greatest gains in their opinion will come from lowering the alcohol limit and fining transgressors, just as with speeding offences.

And even if that did save a handful of lives as has been suggested by the highly optimistic Breen report, this would only trim around 100 million off a 3.3 billion yearly crash bill, barely a 4% reduction in social cost and human misery.

"This is unambitious and not working smart - similarly unambitious gains can be made with less restrictions on 'Mr Harmless' via the adoption of an ignition alcolock program for recidivists, according to Breen".

Candor would not object to a tax being levied on low level drinkers who drive via a new fines systems, if the revenue was to be returned to real road safety initiatives, like drug testing equipment and better Court management of DUI offenders, as these offer some real hope for denting the toll.

Combined with the 15% drop in alcohol related crashes expected to flow down from roading improvements by 2010 this would see most lives saved. "We saw drink related crashes halved between 1990 and 2002 by breathalysing, the issue now is to slam the drugs now upping excess drinking".

Where the focus is currently best placed for DUI prevention in New Zealand;

1)primary prevention, educates the public about the dangers of impaired driving; highlight fatigue and drug risk, safe cars

2)secondary prevention, which increases the efficiency of law enforcement; resource new systems for driver drug testing including randomly in wet high areas.

3)tertiary prevention, which aims to reduce the risk of re-offending, fund ignition alco-locks for second offenders, enable offenders to access substance abuse assessment and treatment well before the current protocols allow it.

Parliamentary questions submitted by Chester Borrows this month established that 7210 drivers, of the 45,885 drivers that were disqualified for driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol since 2004, have had a subsequent conviction for driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

Nearly 3000 drink drive convictions were amassed last year by drivers with three or more previous such offences.

Less than a third had undergone an alcohol and drug addiction assessment, which is supposed to be carried out for drivers who face their third DUI conviction.

This situation is resulting in unsupported heroin addicts as young as 18 who've had red flag crashes, like Leah Peneha, going on to cause multi fatality crashes.

County District Judge Brian MacKenzie boasts that none of the 84 people in a Michigan (U.S.A.) program which includes therapy, driver education and ignition alco-locks, have been involved in a subsequent traffic crash.

In comparison, a similar control group has had a crash rate of 50 percent.

"You can save people's lives," says the foreign Judge. "We've eliminated traffic crashes in these people."

But it seems attention to the underlying causes of recidivism are as yet a faraway dream for Kiwis who would like far less fearsome roads to travel on.

Bold new measures not desperate tinkering with existing but failing tools of the trade are urgently needed to save road users souls.

"The Police and LTNZ need to stop lying to people - there truly is a drug problem in NZ. And the main harm caused by that is it's created a killing field on our roads "

This is a major threat to us all, and does not just affect the odd P cook who set out to blow themselves up, say Candor.

The inquiry called for by NZ Firsts Peter Brown must seek an urgent overhaul of the prevailing drink driving messages, as they are widely missing the mark and have done for five years at least.

Hence the rapidly rising injury and fatal crash numbers.

ENDS

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