Hon. Tony Ryall MP
National Law and Order spokesman

28 July 2005

Drink drivers left to kill while cops gather revenue

Labour has told the Police to spend more time issuing traffic tickets and less getting drink drivers off the roads, says National’s Law and Order spokesman, Tony Ryall.

“Labour’s road policing contract with the Police – the Safety Administration Programme – shows Labour has asked the Police to spend 10,000 hours less on targeting drink driving and 7,000 hours more on speed control.

“Labour owes the people of New Zealand an explanation as to why they will put even more emphasis on speeding tickets at the cost of targeting drink drivers. This is another shambles by this Government.

"New Zealanders already think Labour has put too much priority on revenue gathering at the cost of dealing with crime and drugs. They know Labour has the wrong priorities.

Latest available data on the LTSA website (www.ltsa.govt.nz/research/drink.html) shows that the proportion of crashes and casualties involving drink driving has been increasing over recent years.

"Stopping drink driving warrants more effort by Police, not less," says Mr Ryall.

ENDS

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