Impaired drivers: Police catch nearly 200 over two weekends in May

Police are warning impaired motorists following operations last month caught dozens. Photo / File

Police caught nearly 200 impaired drivers in the Bay of Plenty during two weekends last month.

Major operations were held across the North Island recently, with police disappointed by the number of people who drove under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

National Road Policing Centre director Superintendent Stephen Greally said in an ideal world, there would be no impaired drivers on the roads.

It comes after police caught 180 impaired drivers on Bay of Plenty roads on the weekends of May 7 to 8 and May 14 to 15.

Of the 180 processed for impairment-related driving offences, 94 were on the first weekend and 86 the weekend after.

Meanwhile, between May 7 and 8, one in every 75 vehicles had an impaired driver behind the wheel. It was one in every 83 between May 14 and 15.

National Road Policing Centre director Superintendent Stephen Greally. Photo / File

"Impaired drivers are more likely to cause crashes. That's just a fact," Greally said.

"And with large numbers of New Zealanders on the roads this weekend we all need to be switched on and alert."

Elsewhere, of the 10,331 roadside breath tests undertaken at a checkpoint in Hamilton city last weekend, 302 drivers had alcohol in their system.

A total of 71 people were processed for excess breath alcohol over 250mg per litre of breath — one in every 145 drivers.

A 40-year-old man was processed for excess breath alcohol twice in one night.

In Northland, about 30 drink drivers are prosecuted each week.

In Auckland city, 2821 drivers were tested in May and 102 were processed following the results of their initial breath screening test.

Sixteen then failed the evidential breath tests, with three processed for blood.

"In an ideal world, we would catch no one driving with alcohol or drugs in their system," Greally said.

"Our advice is always the same. If you're drinking, don't drive.

"Organise a way to get home before you go out drinking, and if you can remove the option of driving home entirely by taking public transport, a taxi or getting a lift at the start of the night so you don't have any other option but to do the same at the end of the night."