Drinking changes urged

By PETER DE GRAAF
THIS year's rebounding road toll is fuelling calls for stricter drink-driving rules, with top transport bosses saying Kiwi drivers can get away with drinking more than in most other countries.
Northland's toll as of Christmas Eve was 27, two short of last year's total - but eight more than in 2005. The number killed on New Zealand's roads was 411. At the same time last year it was 387.
The country's top traffic cop, Superintendent Dave Cliff, said 130 of last year's road deaths were caused by drunk drivers - and that New Zealand's alcohol limits were "extraordinarily high" compared with Australia and the best-performing European countries.
New Zealand's adult limit is 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, or 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. For drivers under 20, the limit is 150mcg for breath or 30mg for blood. The adult blood-alcohol limit in Australia and most of Europe - except Britain and Ireland - is 50mg. In Norway, it is 20mg; in the Czech Republic and Hungary, the limit is zero.
Northland road policing manager Inspector Clifford Paxton said no alcohol limit was safe: "Any alcohol will impact on your ability to drive ... We often see people involved in quite serious crashes who have been drinking but are still under the limit."
He said it was essential to make arrangements for transport home before going out. Once people started drinking, rational decision-making went out the window.
Whangarei/Kaipara Road Safety co-ordinator Gillian Archer said she wanted the alcohol limit dropped to bring it into line with international standards. Studies showed that 15 per cent of Northland drivers - double the national average - did not believe alcohol made them more likely to crash.
• A campaign aimed at getting repeat drink-driving offenders off the roads was launched today by families who have lost loved ones in drink-drive accidents. The organisers, from the Sensible Sentencing Trust, encourage Kiwis to wear a white rose in memory of innocent people killed by drunk or drugged drivers. * WHAT'S YOUR LIMIT? - We put NZ's drink-driving levels to the test
So how much do you have to drink to be over the limit?
In the interests of science - it had nothing to do with getting a few drinks at the company's expense, honest - we decided to find out.
We enlisted a panel of varying ages, weights and drinking habits, sat them down one Friday after work, and instructed them to drink at their normal pace.
After every few drinks Constable Craig Kennedy, of Whangarei's Highway Patrol, tested our volunteers with an evidential breath testing machine, as used in the booze bus and at police stations.
We forced them to take a break before each test so the results wouldn't be skewed by traces of alcohol in their mouths.
Some of our guinea pigs were shocked by how much they could drink and still be allowed to drive.
Whangarei graphic artist Mark Strawbridge had a breath reading of 270mcg after six stubbies, well below the 400mcg limit.
"The limit shouldn't be 400. It's crazy as, I wouldn't drive now," he said.
After four glasses of wine Jodie Marinkovich was flushed and feeling "warm fuzzies". She was surprised to be just under the limit, with a reading of 357mcg. A fifth glass sent her soaring over the limit.
"Normally I wouldn't drive after more than one glass. It's not worth it when you can ruin another person's life."
IT expert Harry van Hees, on the other hand, felt a little light-headed but still capable of driving when he had finished seven stubbies and blew 400mcg.
Aroha Pawa said after six beers she could feel the alcohol, and also recorded 400mcg.
"This would definitely be my cut-off for driving," she said.
Mr Kennedy said the results showed it was it was impossible to predict how many drinks would put someone over the limit. "It depends on so many factors, like the person's weight, sex, drinking habits, when they last ate, and so on."
Mr Kennedy said alcohol levels could keep climbing long after someone had stopped drinking, particularly after a heavy session.
Increasingly drivers were being caught dropping their kids off at school while inadvertently still over the limit from the night before. "We get a lot who've had a big night and we pull them over the next day, even at 11am, and they're still way over," he said.