Waikato police said they are "stunned and appalled" after catching 59 people drink driving over two weekends this month.
Waikato road policing manager Inspector Jeff Penno said police charged 26 drink drivers over the weekend of September 1 to 3 in Hamilton city, and a further 33 over the following weekend.
Over 5000 drivers were tested in the second weekend.
“That's one in every 160 cars on the road over the weekend who are affected by alcohol," he said.
"This is not a police issue – this is a community issue."
He said it simply wasn't good enough.
"This is a staggering number of drunk drivers in one weekend, and doesn’t include those apprehended by the rural teams who operate in Waikato’s rural towns every weekend.
"These results show us that there is a real and significant issue and we will be increasing our enforcement in the drink drive area.
"We always increase enforcement to prevent and deter those from drink driving over the Christmas period – this year Christmas is coming early to Waikato’s roads."
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