Wellington Police say too many motorists wrongly believe they can get away
with drinking and driving.

Senior Sergeant Richard Hocken, Wellington City Area road policing group, says 36 drivers were stopped and found to be over the legal breath alcohol limit in a major checkpoint operation in the city on Saturday night.

Nearly 5000 drivers were stopped at checkpoints between 9pm on Saturday and 7am on Sunday at several locations on or adjacent to the urban motorway.

"When one in every 137 drivers stopped is alcohol impaired then clearly there's a problem," Senior Sergeant Hocken said. "Statistically an alcohol impaired driver is five times more likely to be involved in a crash, yet large numbers of drivers do this every week.

"We are concerned that so many drivers are making wrong choices," Senior Sergeant Hocken said. "These are people who elect to get behind the wheel having consumed too much alcohol to drive safely.

"There's no excuse for mixing alcohol with driving. If you are planning a night out, you need to plan a safe transport option home. This is even more important for people living in the northern suburbs, Porirua, the Kapiti Coast and Hutt Valley who are socialising in central Wellington.

"Appointing a sober driver, or using late night buses and trains is the sensible and safe choice.

"With summer coming and less than two months to Christmas, we urge everyone to be more aware of safety on our roads."

Senior Sergeant Hocken warned motorists that drunk and drugged driving is unacceptable, and police will continue to focus on these issues.

Please view the full news release online at:

http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/21392.html

ENDS

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