Whakatane: Call to ban convicted drink drivers from bars

Whakatane District Council wants convicted drink drivers banned from pubs and bars.

In a submission to the Law Commission's Alcohol In Our Lives issue paper, the council rejected as impractical and ineffective a proposal to install alcohol ignition locks in the cars of convicted drunk drivers.

Instead, it suggested banning drink drivers from licensed premises, encouraging publicans not to serve them and running routine "name and shame" campaigns.

The commission received more than 2000 submissions on proposed reforms to liquor laws before the three-month submission period closed at the end of October.

It was the most submissions ever received on a commission project.

Commission president Sir Geoffrey Palmer said it would spend the next few months analysing submissions, before drafting its final recommendations and report for the Government.

- NZPA