A crime survey by Rural Women New Zealand indicates drink driving and speeding are the issues of most concern to people in country areas.
Four hundred and fifty rural women took part in the survey and 80% said speeding was a problem in their community, while 75% identified drink driving as an issue needing to be tackled.
Rural Women national president Liz Evans said while rural people know they should not drink and drive - many don't seem to be able to break the habit.
Socialising in rural areas is often associated with the local hotel or club.
"There's no public transport in rural areas, you've got to rely on someone to come and pick you up,'' shje said.
''You're not really going to get a taxi 20km home - I'm not making excuses for it, I'm just saying perhaps there's still the feeling 'it's not going to happen to me and I know the road'."
Ms Evans said the police want people in rural areas to contact CrimeStoppers and notify them of persistent drink drivers.
She said she was really surprised by one result in the survey which showed 70% of respondents did not think violent crime was an issue affecting their community.
The survey showed 11% of the respondents had experienced violent crime first hand.
Other common crime issues identified in the survey were theft of fuel and stock.
