Mayor Supports Random Roadside Drug Testing
Friday, 17 May 2019, 1:08 pm
Press Release: South Taranaki District Council
South Taranaki District Mayor Ross Dunlop urges the Government to take immediate action on the introduction of random roadside drug testing.
Mayor Dunlop makes the call for action after reading the coroner's report into the horrific Waverley crash which killed seven people last June.
"This tragedy had a huge effect on the families involved and on the wider community. It's extremely disturbing to find out that the driver who caused the tragic deaths at Waverley was high on drugs," says Mayor Dunlop.
"The fact that we have people driving at speed through our community, high on drugs, is frightening. Innocent people's lives are being lost, but the present rules in New Zealand are completely inadequate and I encourage the Government to move more quickly on this," he says.
"Other countries, including Australia, already have random roadside testing in place and we need to introduce it here in New Zealand if we want to get serious about reducing our road toll. In 2017 there were 79 fatal crashes resulting from drugged drivers, a number that exceeded those caused by alcohol. We know it's a serious problem and our community has been severely affected by this, so let's see some action."
There is currently a petition requesting the Government to urgently pass legislation to introduce random roadside drug testing to reduce the escalating road toll from drugged drivers which Mayor Dunlop encourages people to support. The online petition can be found on the New Zealand Parliament website:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/petitions/document/PET_82698/petition-of-karen-dow-matthews-petition-seeking-urgent
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