Wellington, Feb 11 NZPA - A drunk-driver who killed three Taranaki people in a horror crash in 2005 wants to campaign against drink-driving when he gets out of prison.

In October 2005, Raymond Hansen was sentenced to nine years in prison with a minimum non-parole period of five years for killing three young people on the Normanby overpass, near Hawera. He is eligible for parole in August.

The former Taranaki rugby rep has told the parents of one of his victims, Rochelle Meads, that he wants to take a crusade against drink-driving to schools when he is released.

Jan and Neil Wallis met Hansen through the restorative justice process and have since swapped letters in which he expressed his plans, the Taranaki Daily News reported.

The Wallises said they believed Hansen genuinely recognised the consequences of his actions and that they had chosen to forgive him.

However, the parents of the other crash victims, Aaron Hurley and Paul Cowper, said they did not feel the same way and would be making a submission to the Parole Board opposing Hansen's release.