Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Virginia Nicholls: Alcohol Beverages Council Spokesperson on the decline in drink driving convictions

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Virginia Nicholls: Alcohol Beverages Council Spokesperson on the decline in drink driving convictions · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So we've got some good news. Less people are drinking
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: and driving, and it's young people that are leading the charge.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: The number of people convicted of driving under the influence
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: has fallen nearly ten percent in the last nine years.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: That's okay, that's good. That includes both drugs and alcohol,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: but convictions for under nineteen's dropped fifty two percent. So
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to talk to this, Virginia Nichols is from the New
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Zealand Alcohol and Beverage Council. She is the executive director.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Hello Virginia, good morning, Thanks Sandrew, and thanks for having
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: us on.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: It's a pleasure. Is this further evidence that young people
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: aren't into the drinking.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: I think it's showing that you drinking is really changing
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: much for the better. I mean, we know that you've
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: age fifteen to seventy years more and not starving to drink.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: They're drinking later, drinking less and less hazardously than previous generations.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: I mean, the news Devint Health survey show is declining
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: drinking prevalence and hazardous drinking among young people, reflecting the
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: generational shift as a strong indicator that our culture is changing.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Well, that is good news for our health. But the
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: other thing is we spend an awful lot of money trying
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: to stop people drink driving. So do you think the
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: anti drink driving marketing campaign has got into those young
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: people's heads.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: I think it's a change in the culture that's come through.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: I'm sure campaigns and things happen. I'm sure targeted sort
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: of targeted support programs are helping as well as their education.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: So there is most of us agree really that targeted
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: education support programs really help. And since twenty nineteen, there's
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: been a program called Smashed. It's a theater based education
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: program on reducing alcohol harm. It's been funded through a
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: charity supported by beer, wine and spirits, delivered by the
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: Life Education Trust into high schools and every year we
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: see more than eighteen thousand secondary close students providing practical
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: information and advice to support better decision making.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Well, we may have to change that marketing because the
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: bad side of these statistics is convictions have risen for
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: those age between thirty and thirty nine, and also for
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: those people aged over fifty five. Why aren't they getting
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: the message? Well?
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: And I think that the data brings some pretty useful
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: information to the four And again I think it goes
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: back to targeting, targeting those particular groups and actually having
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: a look at the justice information and seeing what's happening
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: there and seeing whether or not, for instance, targeted support
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: programs are needed more for those because these are hazardous drinkers,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: and so we need to really zero in and understand
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: those figures, because I mean the plus fifty fives, they
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: are up by a considerable amount, really so up by
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: nearly thirty six percent in their convictions. They have a
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: lower base to start with, but it still says that
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: we need to really understand the information. And as to say,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: has this information, I'm sure health does as well, and
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: then collectively we need to be looking at how can
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: we target how can we help the people?
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Fascinating Virginia. I thank you for your time, Virginia, and
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: because you see get an alcohol and Peverridge Council Executive Richter.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: So those are over fifty five's, boy, they still like
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: to drink and they still like to drive. And when
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: is it going to get through to you?
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 3:09
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• 3:12
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