They can be funny things, laws. We may not always agree with all of them but a civilised society requires clear laws to function.
Those laws should be fair and reasonable, reflect the views of citizens, and be easy to understand and obey.
This is not the case with the lower drink-drive limit, brought into effect in December last year.
It's not the law that Hospitality New Zealand takes issue with.
The real issue is that police and NZTA are purposely ignoring that the law means you can have a few drinks and drive.
Worse still, they are using scare tactics to promote public ignorance of how to stay within the law.
The role of police is not to make moral judgements.
Their role is to enforce the laws put in place by Parliament and catch those who break them.
So let's be absolutely clear - it is perfectly legal for an adult to have a drink and then drive.
The law is explicit about this. It's also explicit that there are limits.
But what do limits practically mean if no-one understands them?
What's the point when those legal limits are deliberately ignored and misinterpreted by the authorities?
That's the nub of it - the police and NZTA should not be promoting their ''interpretation'' of the law.
Their job is to make it clear how the law applies.
The police and the NZTA decided we couldn't handle the law or the truth.
Their campaigns do not ''inform'' us about the limit.
They say you should not drink anything because even a few drinks will push you over the limit.
This is not true.
So Hospitality New Zealand took action this week. In direct response to almost a year of public confusion, we've provided much-needed clarity and guidance.
Our ''rule of thumb'' shows men can have three standard drinks over two hours and women two standard drinks over two hours.
By following this simple, easy-to-understand guide, the vast majority of adults will be easily under the lower limit.
That means you safely have a couple of after-work beers with mates, or a couple of glasses of wine with dinner - just as the law intends (and despite what the police and NZTA would have you believe).
It's important to note, too, that we didn't simply pull these figures out of a hat.
The rule of thumb is based on analysis by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), which fully supports it.
What's more, our rule of thumb is even more conservative than ESR's own recommendations.
Three drinks will have most men easily within the limit.
The outcry from zero tolerance zealots in response to Hospitality NZ's campaign is predictably off-point.
Their argument for zero-tolerance was lost when Parliament decided on the additional lower limit, in keeping with what the public wanted.
Parliament decided you could drink a little bit and still drive.
Like most Kiwis, Parliament knows the real problem is those who get drunk and drive.
The good thing about the additional limit is it gives us guidance on how to keep social drinking from turning into drunk driving.
We believe that responsible people, given responsible information, will make responsible decisions.
That's the vast majority of New Zealanders. Hospitality NZ chose to provide people with information on how they could drink and be under the limit.
Anyone who drinks and then drives when over the limit is an idiot.
Anyone who decides to have a few social drinks is enjoying themselves, being convivial and obeying the law.
• Bruce Robertson is chief executive of Hospitality New Zealand.
