12. Hon DARREN HUGHES (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Transport
When he said that not enough New Zealand research has been done to justify a reduction in the blood-alcohol level for drivers, had he read the report entitled the Review of effectiveness of laws limiting blood alcohol concentration levels to reduce alcohol-related road injuries and deaths, which draws on New Zealand data?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister of Transport) Link to this
No, but I have read the New Zealand research cited in that British report—research that contributed to Safer Journeys. I note that the British report has the same difficulty with the New Zealand data that we have, in that one has to estimate the impacts from very limited data collection from only fatally injured drivers in this country. As I have stated in the House many times before, there is no data showing the actual impact on the New Zealand road toll from drivers having a blood-alcohol level between 0.5 milligrams and 0.8 milligrams who are not already deceased.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
Is he aware that the report acknowledges that there are various reports of various qualities, but states: “Overall, there is sufficiently strong evidence to indicate that lowering the legal BAC”—blood-alcohol content—“for drivers does help reduce road traffic injuries and deaths” regardless of what jurisdiction was being referred to?
Yes. The report also states that “a large number of factors” can affect the results, including related policies, enforcement, and publication. It also notes the importance, in some cases, of a higher minimum legal driving age, points-based licensing, and random checks. The House will note that it is planned to raise the minimum legal driving age in this country, and random checks are already in place.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
Does the observation in the 184-page report that one of the factors of a lower blood-alcohol content limit being successful is public awareness and support reflect this Government’s policy; if so, what does he make of the 64 percent support rate for lowering the blood-alcohol limit for driving, as my member’s bill would do, which is reflected in New Zealand opinion polls by New Zealand drivers?
As the Government said when it made the decision regarding the package of measures to be taken in relation to drink-driving, we are seeking two things in particular. One is clear evidence of the impact of drivers driving with a blood-alcohol level between 0.05 milligrams and 0.08 milligrams; we cannot currently collect that information in this country and we are going to change the law to enable us to do that. The second thing we were seeking was very broad public support for the change. Although there appears to have been an increase in public support up to this point, there is still the need to collect this data to ensure enduring public support for any change.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
Does the finding in the report—that currently the actual and perceived risk of being detected and sanctioned for drink-driving in the context of the limit of 0.08 milligrams blood alcohol is low, and therefore does not act as a sufficiently strong deterrent—reflect Government thinking?
I think that assessment in the report refers to the British environment, in which it was written, not necessarily to the New Zealand environment, so I am not convinced that it is directly applicable to the New Zealand environment. Nevertheless, the report points out the importance of enforcement and education regardless of the level at which the blood-alcohol limit is set. That also bears out research in Australia, which says that when a limit has changed, the enforcement and the educational effects of the change could be at least as important as the change itself.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
What factors has he identified about New Zealand drivers that lead him to disagree with this 184-page report, which has a finding that a blood-alcohol content of between 0.05 and 0.08 milligrams makes a driver six times more likely to die in a road crash?
There is significant research around that has different views in terms of that difference. It does not change the reality that in this country we do not have the actual data on the impact caused by drivers driving with a blood-alcohol level of between 0.05 and 0.08 milligrams. The last time this matter was before the Government of the day, which was in about 2001, the Government had the opportunity to legislate to enable that data to be collected. It never took that step. This Government is taking that step, and from it we will be able to make an informed decision based on actual harm.