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Story: Alcohol

Breath testing

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Breath testing

Dunedin police breath-test drivers on the morning of 21 December 2011, four days before Christmas. Breath testing of drivers for excessive alcohol was first introduced in 1984. Although morning checks may seem unnecessary, the police reported that after pre-Christmas parties, they did find drivers who were still drunk and drove to work the next day.

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Otago Daily Times

Reference: 22 December 2011, p. 33

by Peter McIntosh

Permission of the Otago Daily Times must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Alcohol – Drinking patterns and social impacts, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/40696/breath-testing (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 11 January 2013, updated 1 April 2016.