Drink-drive initiative wins praise

An innovative programme aimed at reducing drink-driving in the Waitaki district could go nationwide after it was praised in an independent report.

Waitaki community safety officer Alison Banks developed the recidivist drink-driving prevention programme with Senior Constable Ross Lory, of Oamaru police, and it was launched by Judge Stephen O'Driscoll last November as a six-month trial.

The report, by a researcher from Opus International, was "highly supportive" of it continuing in Waitaki and also expanding beyond the district, meaning it could go nationwide, Mrs Banks said.

The report described the programme as a novel mechanism for changing behaviour and said it aligned with the thinking of current research.

It also described the DVD used in the programme as powerful and emotional.

Before sentencing, drink-drivers appearing in the Oamaru District Court view a DVD containing footage from television programme Police 10-7, as well as locally filmed incidents.

It shows the effects a drink-driver can have on victims and their families.

After viewing the DVD, the offenders complete a questionnaire which is then handed to the judge, and the answers and attitudes are taken into consideration during sentencing.

The programme had generated a high level of interest from outside the district, especially within the police and justice community, Mrs Banks said.

The DVD was viewed by 80 offenders during the first six months.

Follow-up questionnaires were sent to offenders one month after sentencing, as well as two weeks before they received their licences back.

The programme also had ongoing contact with offenders.

The report noted the follow-up, assistance, monitoring and evaluation involved in the programme were key mechanisms in its success.

The six-month trial period had offered valuable information on the behaviour of drink-drivers and in identifying who would be likely to reoffend, Mrs Banks said.

 

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