Skin test to help catch drunk drivers

Rotorua police say new technology using infrared light to test drunk drivers would give them an extra few hours a week on the street.

Police are evaluating new technology which determines a driver's level of drunkenness through a skin test. The device reads a person's alcohol level by firing infra-red light through their skin.

It has been trialled in the United States and Police Minister Annette King said police were considering using them in booze buses at checkpoints in New Zealand.

The skin tests would replace the blood tests that are carried out on suspected drunk drivers.

Sergeant Denton Grimes, who leads the Rotorua-based TAG (Traffic Alcohol Group) that targets drunk drivers, said about one in 10 drunk drivers who failed a breath test opted for blood tests, meaning on average about three suspected drunk drivers had blood tests each week.

It took about 40 minutes to take the test by the time an on-call nurse travelled to the Rotorua police station.

"If it goes ahead it means we can go out there and catch more drunk drivers."

Rotorua's drunk driving rate is among the worst in the country with police expecting to catch a drunk driver out of every five cars they stop on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

The TAG team catches on average 25 drunk drivers over three nights in Rotorua - but on one occasion in June last year, 41 drivers were found over the limit.

The proposed new infra-red system has been welcomed by Rotorua defence lawyers who say the test was a sign of the times.

Rotorua defence lawyer Jonathan Temm, who is the Waikato/Bay of Plenty District Law Society vice-president, said most lawyers would welcome the test, given it was quicker and more cost effective - as long as it proved accurate.

He said blood tests often took a long time, leaving their clients in limbo, and there had been the odd problem with samples going missing.

"By in large, drunk drivers are not hardened criminals, they have generally made errors in judgement.

"They should be dealt with as soon as possible and sent on their way."

Fellow lawyer Bill Lawson questioned how accurate the test would be.

"It seems to me the blood test is the most accurate measure of getting an alcohol level.

"But who knows. I don't know enough about the infra-red test."