Govt responsible for 7 NZ deaths

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 pm, November 4th, 2013 - 25 comments
Categories: law, same old national, transport - Tags: , ,

Over 2 years ago the government was passing legislation and Labour tried to amend it to lower the drink drive limit from 80mg to 50mg in line with most other countries.

Never one to affect the booze barons’ profits too much, National voted it down.

They dithered and decided that, despite plenty of research on how the higher alcohol limit cost lives (as many as 30 per year), that they needed their own research before doing anything.

Kicked out to the long grass, people kept dying.

Last month Iain Lees-Galloway (or The Notorious ILG as he was christened at the Labour conference) had a private member’s bill drawn aiming to do exactly the same thing.

Faced with the prospect of Lees-Galloway getting the bill through without National Party support, National have finally resurrected their study and done something.

Their study shows that by their measurements at least 7 New Zealanders have died because of their dithering. 7 lives unfulfilled and families faced with unnecessary grief.

Disgraceful.

25 comments on “Govt responsible for 7 NZ deaths ”

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  1. tc 1
    4 November 2013 at 6:52 pm

    Finally. they did the same with loan sharking except instead of waiting for it to come at them from the other side they reintroduced it themselves.

    Id like to see us adopt more of Oz’s driving laws, especially victoria. Child restraint, blocking intersections and speeding just to name a few. They were prosecuting culpable drivers decades ago and they dont pussy about, over 30k of the limit is an instant loss of licence, non negotiable.

  2. Chris 2
    4 November 2013 at 10:14 pm

    Personally I think the rate should be zero.

    And if that makes more people criminals then so be it.

  3. tricledrown 3
    5 November 2013 at 7:56 am

    Chris that would be a good idea it would reducr alcohol consumption overall as well.
    Rrducing the $6 billion in damage alcohol does to our economy/society every year.
    As for the 30km over the speed limit I am pretty sure that already exists.

    • tc 3.1
      5 November 2013 at 10:35 am

      over 30Km…50 demerit points and a fine, Victoria Oz, licence removed immediately for 3 months.

      NZ: exceed a permanent speed limit by more than 40 km/h (or another speed limit by 50 km/h) and it’s 28 days instant loss of licence.

  4. The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 4
    5 November 2013 at 8:46 am

    Their study shows that by their measurements at least 7 New Zealanders have died because of their dithering.

    Who is they?

    Where is this study?

    • felix 4.1
      5 November 2013 at 8:53 am

      “Who is they?”

      Hmm, let’s see:

      Faced with the prospect of Lees-Galloway getting the bill through without National Party support, National have finally resurrected their study and done something.

      Their study shows that by their measurements at least 7 New Zealanders have died because of their dithering.

      National, Ole. Reading is amazing.

      • TheContrarian 4.1.1
        5 November 2013 at 9:02 am

        I wouldn’t mind seeing this study

      • chrissy 4.1.2
        5 November 2013 at 10:04 am

        brownlee said this morning that their intention of looking into lowering dd limits had been in their timeline since 2009.
        Doing it now had nothing to do with Lees-Galloway bill.
        Four years and now they make an instant soft decision.
        I don’t know why old lardy opens his mouth. No one believes a word he says.

        • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 4.1.2.1
          5 November 2013 at 10:30 am

          Yeah, I hate fat people too. How about that Nanaia Mahuta, eh?

          • fender 4.1.2.1.1
            5 November 2013 at 10:55 am

            “How about that Nanaia Mahuta, eh?”

            Nanaia is intelligent, beautiful and doesn’t push old people down stairs, so obviously she wont be welcome in the National bully party….

            • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 4.1.2.1.1.1
              5 November 2013 at 10:57 am

              But she’s “lardy”, right?

              • vto …
                5 November 2013 at 11:00 am

                She aint nothing like sloppy old drooped Key, ha ha ha. I don’t think he even has muscles… f’ken hell…

              • fender …
                5 November 2013 at 11:13 am

                No, she’s a lady, and doesn’t bully people. Maybe if Gerry wasn’t such a bully he wouldn’t get ridiculed for throwing his weight around.

  5. Grantoc 5
    5 November 2013 at 10:48 am

    Taking your argument to its logical conclusion Bunji, I presume that you also believe that Labour was responsible for any number of road deaths and injuries from 1999 to 2008, during which time the current drink driving laws were in place. And during which time Labour did nothing about them.

    • McFlock 5.1
      5 November 2013 at 11:33 am

      Really? Labour voted down a 50mg limit while in government, then proposed it when they were in opposition?

      Or are you suggesting that there is no difference between stalling a valid proposal for two years, and failing to imagine which proposals would be supported by evidence in ten years time?

      I’d suggest that thirteen years ago NZTA was still working on recidivist heavily-drunk drivers, not the gray area between “social damage from those people who get impaired after one small glass” and “social damage from excessive legislation”.

    • Tat Loo 5.2
      5 November 2013 at 11:52 am

      Successive governments have let the country down, of that we can be fairly clear.

  6. fambo 6
    5 November 2013 at 1:03 pm

    It’s not people driving at the the current limit that is killing people. It is people driving way over the limit. I can’t see this changing. Further more, unless cheap public transport is accessible and readily available at night, people will continue to have a drink and then hop in their vehicle and drive. A lot of people can’t afford a taxi, and don’t have access to a non-drinking driver. The closer you move to prohibition, the more a law gets disrespected and flouted.

  7. Richard McGrath 7
    9 November 2013 at 2:42 pm

    The Green Party have a solution… wooden bicycles for all!

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