Hamilton drink-driving appalling, say Waikato police

Police say they're stunned and appalled by the results of their drink driving operations.

Waikato police say they are appalled by the number of people caught drink driving in Hamilton over the past two weekends.

Police processed and charged 26 drink drivers over the weekend of September 1-3 and another 33 over the weekend of September 8-10.

The police Impairment Prevention Team breath-tested 5273 drivers in the city last weekend.

Waikato Road Policing manager Inspector Jeff Penno said he was stunned and appalled by the results.

“That’s one in every 160 cars on the road over the weekend who are affected by alcohol.

“This is not a police issue – this is a community issue.

“They were all drinking somewhere with someone who should have cared enough to stop their friend, partner or whānau from driving drunk.

“These drunk drivers are driving towards you and your family.

“It’s simply not good enough.

“This is a staggering number of drunk drivers in one weekend, and doesn’t include those apprehended by the rural teams who operate in Waikato’s rural towns every weekend.

“These results show us that there is a real and significant issue and we will be increasing our enforcement in the drink drive area.

“We always increase enforcement to prevent and deter those from drink driving over the Christmas period – this year Christmas is coming early to Waikato’s roads.”