Drink-driving publicity may be seen as nothing more than entertainment, having no real impact on offenders, say Balclutha police, who are fuming at the number of drink-drivers caught in South Otago in recent weeks.
In the past two months, 15 drivers - including a 16-year-old who was caught twice within a few weeks - have been processed for drink-driving, and police are stumped as to why the deluge of drink-driving advertising does not appear to be working.
Sergeant Martin Bull, of Balclutha, said that before the recent "craziness'', there had been some weekends when no drivers were caught. He had no explanation for this.
The long, hot summer might be a factor, but Sgt Bull believed many people had become "desensitised'' to all the anti-drink-driving material that had been circulating for the last 20 years.
The recent offenders ranged in age from a 16-year-old Clinton youth, caught twice within a few weeks, through to a man in his late 40s. Most of their readings were "on the high side'', with some caught driving well over twice the legal limit.
All the money and thought which went into advertising to ease the drink-driving problem could be wasted on some people, Sgt Bull said.
"I wonder if they see it as entertaining as opposed to actually serving a purpose and having a message.''
Police could introduce more compulsory and random patrols, but drivers and the wider public needed to take more personal responsibility for the problem, he said.
"A lot of the time when we stop people [for drink-driving], they blame us for ruining their lives. But we're not the ones pouring the drink down their throats,'' Sgt Bull said.
Before drinking and driving, those people should "think about other people'' and the possibly serious or even deadly consequences of their actions.
