Wellington, Aug 19 (IANS): New Zealand's new 1.3 billion NZ dollar ($790 million) Road Policing Investment Program aims to improve road safety nationwide by targeting drunk or drugged drivers, the leading contributors to fatal crashes, according to the Transport Ministry.

The program to be implemented between 2024 and 2027 will increase the roadside alcohol breath testing target from 3 million tests to 3.3 million per year, as well as 50,000 roadside drug tests annually, Xinhua news agency reported.

Released on Sunday by Transport Minister Simeon Brown, the program package also focuses on high-risk times with a requirement that 65 per cent of breath tests are done at high or extreme alcohol risk times.

The plan has clear targets to ensure police are focused on the most high-risk times, behaviours, and locations, Brown said, adding that speed offences on open roads and high-risk locations are also a focus of the program.

"Alcohol and drugs are the number one contributing factor in fatal road crashes in New Zealand," he said, adding that between 2019 and 2022, crashes involving drug drivers claimed the lives of an average of 105 people each year and represented around 30 per cent of all road deaths in the country.

Breath tests have a clear deterrent effect on people who risk drinking and then driving, the minister said.