New Zealand's worst drink-driving centres revealed

New Zealand's biggest drink-driving centres have been revealed.

New figures show Counties Manukau was the police district with the largest number of offences "relating to driving under the influence of alcohol". In 2019, 2808 such offences were recorded in the district which spans from Franklin in the south to Otahuhu. 

There were 24,547 drink-driving offences recorded last year across New Zealand's 12 police districts, each of different sizes. That's down from 25,935 in 2018. A total of $1,480,100 was made through fines.

Three police districts include areas of Auckland, but also small parts of Waikato and Northland. On top of Counties Manukau, Auckland City district saw 1839 offences, while the Waitemata district - including Auckland's North Shore and areas as far north as Mangawhai - had 2577. 

The Bay of Plenty district, spanning from Katikati to Turangi and all the way east to Te Kaha, had 2570 offences, while there were 2554 offences in the Waikato district. Wellington saw 2035 offences and 2281 in the Canterbury police district. 

New Zealand's worst drink-driving centres revealed

The statistics don't include offences where the offender was under the influence of both alcohol and drugs or where the specific substance type of an impaired driver hasn't been identified. The figures do, however, include offences where the offender has been aided or abetted. 

Of the offences recorded across New Zealand, 1381 relate to people under the age of 20, who can't have any alcohol in their system while driving. For everyone else, the drink-drive limit is 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

Drink-driving by police district:

  • Counties Manukau: 2808
  • Waitemata: 2577
  • Bay of Plenty: 2570
  • Waikato: 2554
  • Canterbury: 2281
  • Wellington: 2035
  • Eastern: 1992
  • Central: 1897
  • Auckland City: 1839
  • Southern: 1673
  • Northland: 1548 
  • Tasman: 1048

What locations each district encompasses can be found here.