The ESR report was completed for New Zealand Police and indicates that nearly half of drivers who die in road crashes have alcohol and/or drugs in their system.

The five year study looked at 1,046 drivers who died between 2004 and 2009 (89% of deceased drivers during that time). They were tested for alcohol and drugs and nearly half (48% or 500 drivers) tested positive.

Of those, 72% (365 drivers) had either used cannabis, alcohol and cannabis, or a combination of drugs.

Twenty seven percent (135 drivers) only had alcohol in their system.

• 135 (27%) had used alcohol alone
• 96 (19%) had used cannabis alone
• 142 (28%) had used both alcohol and cannabis
• 127 (25%) had used a combination of drugs, which may have included alcohol and/or cannabis

AA General Manager Motoring Affairs Mike Noon says the results show that simply focussing on alcohol and drink driving won’t address the problem of dangerously impaired drivers on our roads.

The ESR report says that “...when alcohol and impairing drugs are used together the effects are likely to be greater than when just one is used by itself.”

People with drugs in their system can currently go undetected. They might pass an alcohol roadside breath screening test and not be suspected for drugs, but their driving may be seriously impaired by drugs. The AA believes that only drivers that are grossly drug impaired are currently detected by the Police at the roadside and are required to undertake an impairment test.

“This report shows we need better drug testing of drivers,” he says. “The AA thinks it’s time to consider increasing New Zealand’s drug testing to include roadside saliva tests as is done in some Australian States. The recent introduction of the roadside impairment test was a good first step to combat drugged driving, but this report has shown that it is nowhere near enough to detect and discourage drugged drivers as a third of drivers tested who died over the past five years had taken drugs.

The report also provides useful research data on driver BAC levels from the actual testing of drivers from fatal crashes and helps inform the current debate on whether to lower the adult BAC level from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol per 100mL of blood.

The report says that 6% or 21 of 351 deceased drivers in the study who had used alcohol, or 2% of the 1,046 drivers in the study, had blood alcohol levels between 0.05 and 0.08. Only 10 of the drivers had used alcohol alone, while the other 11 had also used a potentially impairing drug. This is much lower than deaths recorded for drivers with BAC level above the current limit of 0.08.

Of the 351 drivers who had used alcohol, 28% had BAC levels between 81-160mg, 35% had levels between 161-240mg and 15% had BAC levels over 240mg/100mL of blood, says Mr Noon.

The majority (81%) of deceased drivers in the study were considered to have been at fault for their crash.

“The report confirms that the problem of driver impairment on our roads is a serious one and much wider than just alcohol,” says Mr Noon.

Alcohol and other drug use in NZ drivers report summary

Alcohol and other drug use in NZ drivers 2010

For more information contact

Mike Noon
General Manager Motoring Affairs
New Zealand Automobile Association
T. +64 9 931 9984
M. +64 21 659 704
Email: mnoon@aa.co.nz

The New Zealand Automobile Association is an incorporated society with over one million members. It represents the interests of road users who collectively pay over $2 billion in taxes each year through fuels excise, road user charges and GST.