Random stopping of drivers introduced

Press, 18 December 1982, Page 3

Random stopping of drivers introduced

PA Wellington The Government yesterday morning moved to introduce random stopping of drivers. The Transport Amendment Bill (No. 4) puts into effect an announcement made earlier this week by the Minister of Transport, Mr Gair, that the law on random stopping would be clarified. This was in spite of the recommendation of Parliament’s Road Safety Select Committee.- which maintained that traffic officers already had the power to stop drivers randomly under section 66 of the Transport Act.

The chairman of the committee, Mr M. J. Minogue (Nat., Hamilton West), said during the bill’s introduction that he agreed with the views of Mr R. W. Prebble (Lab., Auckland Central), who said random stopping could be instituted before Christmas:

Mr Minogue then alleged that . senior Ministry of Transport officers had dropped random stopping in 1978 after lobbying by liquor interests. “For reasons best known to higher authority a directive came from the Secretary or the Director of Road Transport that this practice cease.

"The Road Safety Committee was given to understand, and I have papers in which this matter is reported by the Ministry itself, that that direction was given as a result of complaints made by liquor interests... to the effect that use of section 66 in this way was a nefarious means of catching drinking drivers,” Mr Minogue said.

The bill was sent to a select committee for consideration during the recess.

Under the bill, random stopping points will be signposted and lit, and police support will be available if needed. Random stopping will be discontinued after December 31, 1985, if it proves ineffective. A national register of drivers’ licences will be established, making the Secretary. for Transport the sole issuing authority. At present only 900,000 of . the 1,700,000 drivers’ licences in New Zealand were processed by the Ministry of Transport, Mr Gair said.