Government mislead Public over lower drink driving levels

Watchdog says stats misleading
"New evidence" released by the Government last week in a bid to justify its refusal to lower drink-drive alcohol limits has been tagged as misleading by an alcohol watchdog.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce released the statistics last week - which claimed that 72 per cent of alcohol-related deaths on the roads were caused by drivers who were either blind-drunk or repeat offenders. The release was seized on by some media outlets and labelled "new evidence" that backed the Government stance.

But further analysis of the Minister's numbers reveals the sort of statistics the Ministry of Transport has used to back its earlier recommendation for a reduction in the limit - 61.4 per cent of deaths in drink-drive crashes last year were caused by first-time offenders.

That compares to 63.6 per cent the previous year and 54.3 per cent over the years 2005 to 2007. It debunks the theory that repeat offenders are the main problem on the roads.

Alcohol Healthwatch director Rebecca Williams said the presentation of the Minister's figures was "misleading" and suited the Government's view.

This is just becoming a joke now, the reason the Government are making the bullshit claim that they need 'more research' and are backing that claim with spin lies from stats is because the Government are terrified by the political correctness bogeyman they spent so much time in opposition feeding in the minds of their voting block.

Right now their older male electorate can drink 7 drinks and drive legally drunk, to then tell them that John Key has changed that to just 2 drinks will start a scream of 'NANNY STATE - NANNY STATE - NANNY STATE - NANNY STATE - NANNY STATE blah blah blah.

National CAN NOT have their political correctness bogeyman awoken in the minds of their scarlet necked voters and so they won't effect any change in social policy because of it. Sure it means more dead NZers but better more graves than the nanny state political correctness monster rears its pig ignorant head in the minds of people who vote blue.

I love how NZers went into a frenzy over water saving showerheads and power saving lightbulbs because it was the political correctness shock troops from the dykeocracy kicking down their front doors but seem more than happy to allow people to legally drive drunk.

National care more about booze industry profits than society as a whole, it's as simple as that.