Drink blitz soon

Press, 9 June 1978, Page 1

Drink blitz soon

Parliamentary reporter The Government has directed the Ministry of Transport to conduct from July a national campaign against drinking drivers. This campaign will be carried out in Christchurch as well as the rest of New Zealand at a maximum effort, in spite of a temporary shortage of staff. The Minister of Transport (Mr McLachlan) said this in reply to yesterday’s front page article in “The Press.” “If necessary, appropriate overtime will be carried out to ensure the maximum number of traffic officers required for the campaign,” Mr McLachland said. Ten trainees in the present traffic officers’ training course at Trentham will be posted to Christchurch at the end of the course. The Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) said yesterday that drinking drivers faced sterner penalties under changes to the law being considered by a Parliamentary Select Committee on road safety. Drunken driving is responsible for at least 75 per cent of the most severe road accident injuries treated at the Christchurch Hospital, according to a survey recently completed under the direction of Dr Morgan Fahey. The two-month survey, which received a National Roads Board grant, investigated the costs of intensive hospital care for accident victims.