Tests showing that Kava drinkers could be safer drivers than drunks need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Dr Apo Aporoso, a kava researchers at the University of Waikato in New Zealand says a study testing driver reactions after a six-hour session of high-volume kava drinking found no significant effect on driving ability.

But he believes more testing using different techniques may show there is a degree of impairment, and Pacific people should be cautious about getting behind the wheel of a car after a heavy kava drinking session.