In the wake of the Oatlands tragedy, Lake Macquarie Police Commander, Superintendent Danny Sullivan, has revealed the city's drink driving record and spoken out about the "terrible" choices some residents are making by getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.

Supt Sullivan said his officers caught 219 people driving under the influence last year and arrests in the first two months of this year showed that figure would likely be eclipsed in 2020.

"What we're seeing here in Lake Macquarie is a real sharp incidence of people who make this terrible choice to get behind the wheel when they've had too much to drink," he said.

"There's four things that contribute to the amount of fatal motor vehicle collisions we have, that's speeding, not wearing your seatbelt, drink driving and ever more increasingly using your mobile phone. Tragically, each of those four things is well and truly within the control of the diver before they actually get behind the wheel of a car."

Supt Sullivan said he had "real concerns" of an incident like the Oatlands tragedy occurring in Lake Macquarie due to the "casual attitude" of drink drivers.

"The first sentence, without fail, out of their mouth every time we pull them over is, 'I was just'," he said.

"I was just going to the shops, I was just going to get a bite to eat, I was just going to pick up a friend.

"Well the problem you've got, and we all know about that horrible case in Oatlands where those four children were killed by a drink driver, the chilling message there is when he was pulled over by the police - he was 'just going to a service station'."

Police data shows drivers were caught DUI in all areas of the city in 2019, but Supt Sullivan said it revealed hot spots on the western side of Lake Macquarie.

"I'm really seeing a disturbing pattern of behaviour on the south-western side of Lake Macquarie. I'm talking about suburbs like Bonnells Bay, Morisset, Cooranbong.

"No suburb in Lake Macquarie is spared, everyone in the lake is drinking and driving, but there is definitely a pattern on the western side."

About 80 per cent of people caught DUI in Lake Macquarie last year were men.

"Quite frankly, blokes in the Hunter, we've got a problem," Supt Sullivan said.

"It's overwhelming men who are getting behind the wheel when they've had too much to drink.

"Of those 176 men, there are two really clear patterns.

"There is a group that is in their twenties, who are invariably the ones who get blamed for drinking and driving by the broader community because they're the ones who are out in our entertainment precincts, but more alarmingly for me, the next big group is actually men in their fifties and over.

"These are men that have had the benefit of a lifetime of drink-driving [awareness campaigns]. You must have been living under a rock not to know that drinking and driving don't mix."

Supt Sullivan said the number of people getting caught at high-range - 32 men and 7 women last year - was particularly concerning.

"Whilst I never excuse drinking and driving, I can understand the person who has had just one drink too many and gets arrested for a low-range," he said.

"I'd never excuse it, but I can understand a person who has made that mistake. But the clear message around making that mistake, is just don't drink and drive and you won't have that mathematical complication.

"What concerns me though is the striking amount of high-range PCAs we have where the individual can be in no doubt they've had too much and shouldn't be driving.

"If you're going out for a night, plan ahead.

"If you're going out and plan to drink, plan to have a way home. There's so many different ways to get back to where you came from rather than putting the rest of us at risk."

Supt Sullivan said their had been an outpouring of grief after the Oatlands tragedy, and like most fatal drink-driving incidents, the majority of the community condemned the driver for getting behind the wheel.

But he said that widespread condemnation had not stopped people from driving under the influence.

Supt Sullivan said the city's DUI record must change but it would only occur if there was a signficant shift in individual behaviours.

"Law enforcement plays a part, and people need to know that we are out there involved in RBT in all parts of our community, but that's only a small part," he said.

"The bigger part is personal responsibility. You control how much drink you have, whether it be at home or a licenced premises. You are individually directly in control of how much you drink.

"You are also directly in control of whether you sit behind the wheel of a car.

"When we've caught you, it's already too late. You've already committed the crime. You've already put our community in danger.

"So I'm saying to individuals: get control of your own behaviour.

"If I went to a pre-school and said 'is it wrong to drink and drive'. 100 per cent of them would tell me it's wrong. So if kids in pre-school can get it, what's the problem with adults?"