Evidential breath-tests to be used today

Press, 22 December 1978, Page 1

Evidential breath-tests to be used today

Christchurch motorists w'ho drink and drive today,, or this evening will face evidential breath-testing for the first time. The new American-made “alco-sensors” arrived in Christchurch yesterday. They will be used at the Christchurch Central Police Station, and at the Ministry of Transport headquarters in Montreal Street today. The new devices, which replace the old breath-test “bags,” will also partly supersede blood-testing in court prosecutions.

Under the new system, drivers suspected of drinking are tested at the scene with one of the old “bags.” If this test provespositive, they are taken to police or Ministry of Transport headquarters to be tested on an “alco-sen-sor.” The new devices could be carried in patrol cars, but they would not be in the meantime, a Ministry

of Transport spokesman said. A total of 124 drivers in Christchurch have been asked ,to take breath-tests in the first two weeks of the Ministry of Transport’s blitz on drunken driving. Of these, 99 gave blood Samples. The regional office says these figures are “considerably higher” than a. normal two-week period, but there are no records to allow a detailed comparison. The regional traffic superintendent (Mr A. Goldsmith) said yesterday that most readings were 150 mg or more. It seemed that between 2 per cent and 5 per cent of those who gave blood samples were under the new legal limit of 80mg. A “small percentage” recorded be-

tween 80mg and the old limit of lOOmg. More than 2000 vehicles have been stopped in Christchurch fot vehicle checks in the last two weeks. In Auckland, traffic authorities say that one in six persons apprehended under the new legislation for drunken driving would have been safe under the old laws. The maximum penalty for exceeding the bloodalcohol limit is a term of three months imprisonment or a $l5OO fine, or both. The minimum disqualification from driving is six months. Meanwhile the NZPA

reports that the blitz on drunken drivers is working, judging by the latest figures released by the Ministry of Transport in Wellington. Twenty-four persons have died on’ the roads so far this month, compared with 49’- in ; the same period last year. ' ? But it might be too early to assess reliably the impact of the blitz, said the Director of Road Transport (Mr M. W. Croy) yesterday. Although he agreed the ’blitz was going welt so far, Mr Croy said that the 49 road deaths to the same time iast December,, and the 80 deaths altogether in December, 1977, was an unusually high number.

The month-long, hard* line campaign, which has now been running for almost two weeks, had still been very successful, and it was clear there had been a ...significant reduc- .. tion in.; road fatalities, Mr Croy said. But a clearer picture should emerge today, When the Ministry of Transport will release statistics it is compiling on road accidents. Mr Croy said the Ministry had been supplied with figures, from 18 hospitals throughout ’New Zealand relating to the July blitz, .. which showed that, the number of road-accident casualties fell 23 per cent compared with the five weeks immediately before the blitz.