Data from studies of fatally injured drinking drivers and convicted drinking drivers are compared using two different definitions of hard-core drinking drivers, namely those with a prior conviction for drink driving and those with a blood alcohol level exceeding 150 mg/100 ml for the current offence. The former definition leads to much greater distinctions between the two groups. The repeat offending rates for drinking and driving suggest that the harsher penalties given to hard-core offenders serve to minimise the rate of repeat offending. There have been marked changes in the age distributions of hard-core and soft-core convicted drinking drivers between 1992/1993 and 1998/1999.