Medics join push to cut driver alcohol limit

BY SAM SACHDEVA

Health experts have joined the call for a lower drink-driving limit after a horror week on New Zealand roads.

The pressure comes weeks before a Cabinet decision on whether it will lower the blood-alcohol limit from 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres to 50mg as part of its 10-year road-safety strategy, called Safer Journeys.

Twenty-one people have died in 14 road accidents over the past seven days, with an elderly woman pedestrian killed when she was struck by a vehicle in the Bay of Plenty town of Paengaroa the latest victim.

Police said alcohol was believed to have played a part in five of the crashes.

In a seminar on the alcohol limit yesterday, Capital & Coast District Health Board chief medical officer Geoff Robinson said New Zealand's 80mg limit was high by international standards.

People below the current limit could display clear signs of intoxication, such as slurred speech, poor balance and impaired judgment, he said.

"I've seen [scientific] tests where the person is still below the legal limit and they're absolutely appalled because they are so intoxicated that they'd never think of driving."

Robinson said evidence pointed to a 50mg limit as the stage at which driving impairment became noticeable, with drivers over the limit taking increased time to respond to hazards and displaying high error rates.

Otago University professor of preventive and social medicine Jennie Connor said the current law put New Zealand in a minority of developed countries with a blood-alcohol limit above 50mg.

The United States, Canada and Britain have an 80mg limit, while Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have a 50mg limit.

Connor said international studies and "on-road" evidence showed the safety benefits of a lower limit, which would also cause people to think more carefully about how much they drank.

"It would change the drinking culture in this country," she said.

"Even heavy-drinking drivers (in other countries) have done less drinking when alcohol limits have been lowered."

A 50mg limit would allow people to have "occasions with moderate drinking" and still drive legally, she said.

"Some people try to say that it's only going to affect nice, reasonable people when the issue is demon recidivist drink-drivers, but the evidence doesn't stack up for that," Connor said.

Environmental Science and Research forensic toxicologist Allan Stowell said the current law allowed drivers to drink a substantial amount of alcohol.

A 1.8-metre man weighing 85 kilograms could have between 4.5 and 6.9 standard drinks in an hour and still legally drive, while a 1.65m, 70kg woman could have between three and 4.6 drinks.

A 50mg limit would change that to between three and 4.7 for men and between two and 3.1 for women, he said.

Alcohol Healthwatch director Rebecca Williams said there was strong public support for reducing the alcohol level as shown by a Research New Zealand poll in which 63 percent of those surveyed supported lowering the limit from 80mg to 50mg.

"A blood alcohol limit of 50mg/l would allow people to have a one or two drinks with a meal and drive," Ms Williams said.

"The difference is they would be far less likely to have a serious accident behind the wheel than if they were drinking up to the 80mg/l limit - which can be as many as six drinks over 90 minutes."

She called on the Government to reduce the limit without delay.

Allowing people to drive at the current limit was essentially "endorsing intoxicated driving".

Transport Minister Steven Joyce said the Cabinet had not decided on the blood-alcohol limit, but an announcement was likely early next month.

The recent road deaths had "put more impetus" into the Safer Journeys proposals, he said.

The Cabinet would take international laws and research into consideration when deciding on the limit, Joyce said. Public opinion would also play an important part in the decision.

"It's not about politics," he said. "An issue like road safety affects everyone, so you need to make sure there's widespread support to avoid a backlash against any decisions you make."

He said the Cabinet could decide to commission more research on drivers with alcohol levels between 50mg and 80mg because of the lack of information.

DEADLY WEEK

* GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 2

James Victor Robinson, 18, of Morrinsville, is killed after his car crashes into a paddock and hits a bank in Waharoa, near Hamilton.

Barbara June Moseley, 59, of Marton, is killed when her car crosses the centre line, smashing into an oncoming truck in Taupiri, near Hamilton.

* SATURDAY, APRIL 3

Kalaisha Matangireia Princess Hale, 6 months, of Kawerau, suffers fatal injuries when the ute she is in with her parents rolls after being rear-ended by a Holden Commodore in Putauaki, near Whakatane. She dies on Sunday. A passenger in the Holden, Fraser Douglas Nathan, 23, of Kawerau, dies at the scene after the car hits a power pole, rolls and bursts into flames.

Cathryn May Carr, 51, of Christchurch, is hit by a car while cycling on Old West Coast Rd. She dies on Monday.

Wiki Antony Brass, 50, of Kaitaia, is killed when his car runs into a ditch and rolls off Ahipara Rd, near Kaitaia.

* EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 4

Haina Gladys Stewart, 48, of Paekakariki, dies when the Mitsubishi she is a passenger in is hit by an oncoming Toyota Camry overtaking a truck on SH1 north of Waiouru. The truck hits both cars. Kuwaiti student Abdullah Aldousari, 19, a passenger in the Camry, is also killed.

Auckland motorcyclist Steven Gorrie, 38, and his Japanese passenger die after their bike collides with a car on SH1 in the Dome Valley, north of Warkworth.

The body of Blair Edwin Sainsbury, 17, of Tiniroto, is found in a car 80 metres down a bank off Tiniroto Rd on Tuesday morning. Police believe the crash happened on Sunday

* MONDAY, APRIL 5

A 17-year-old dairy farm worker is flung from the car she is driving after it drifts to the left and rolls, about 80km from Hastings. She dies overnight Wednesday.

* TUESDAY, APRIL 6

Richard Washington Galvan, 82, dies after being hit by a bus in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga.

Willie Paul, 47, dies after his four-wheel-drive rolls several times and crashes into a tree off a gravel road on Waiheke Island.

Steven Arthur McKnight, 47, from Massey, Auckland, is killed when his truck crashes and rolls south of Auckland.

* WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7

An English couple, aged 73 and 64, holidaying in New Zealand are killed after a head-on crash between two rental cars in Southland, near Te Anau.

Jonathon Peter Wrigley, 36, from Dannevirke, is killed, along with his two-year-old daughter Aaliyah, when their southbound car and another collided on SH2, north of Dannevirke. Cicely Jean Bramley, 73, who is driving the other car, is also killed in the smash.

* YESTERDAY

An elderly woman pedestrian is killed after being hit by a ute on SH33 at Paengaroa, between Rotorua and Te Puke.

- with The Dominion Post, NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News