Auckland City Drink Drive Operation- Operation Safer Roads

People driving around Auckland City during the period of Wednesday 16 -Sunday 20 September were greeted by multiple Police Checkpoints set up to detect drunk drivers.

Auckland Police assisted by the specialised Traffic Alcohol Group were also joined by Court bailiffs from the Ministry of Justice.

40,000 drivers were breath tested over the four evening and early morning checkpoints strategically placed around the City and suburbs. Checkpoints ranged from Avondale to Blockhouse Bay to Westmere, Mt Albert and the Auckland CBD.

Of these drivers a total of 129 people were detected driving with an excess breath alcohol reading over the legal limit of 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

Police impounded 17 motor vehicles and also suspended 34 people's driver's licenses after they returned a reading of more than 650 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

Auckland City Road Policing Manager Inspector Gavin Macdonald said it was concerning the number of people who still thought it was alright to drive whilst intoxicated.

13 people were also arrested for a variety of offences including receiving stolen property, unlawfully taking motor vehicles, driving whilst disqualified and breaching their bail conditions

Court bailiffs seized an additional 12 vehicles and collected an additional $3000 in cash for outstanding unpaid fines.

Inspector Macdonald said a lot of offenders were surprised at the number of checkpoints being run in their local neighbourhood and had been caught out.

One offender actually complained after being stopped that the police had changed the location of a checkpoint whilst he had been drinking at the pub .He had received an earlier txt message from a friend to tell him which way to drive home without being detected.

The Inspector said offending drivers needed to start waking up to the fact that Driving whilst intoxicated was no joke and that it they continued to offend, it was only a matter of time before they hurt or killed not only themselves but other innocent road users.

Inspector Macdonald's message to people driving in Auckland City was that they would be held accountable and prosecuted, if they decided to break the law by continuing to drink and drive.

The Police and the Community alike have had enough of the intoxicated driver's irresponsible behaviour and offenders could expect to be stopped ANYTIME, ANYWHERE.

Inspector Macdonald also thanked the majority of law abiding drivers passing through the various checkpoints for their patience and co operation.