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Source: ONE News -
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Police are all smiles after their blitz on speeding motorists over Queen's Birthday weekend which they say kept the road toll at its lowest in 54 years.
One road death was recorded compared to 10 during the same holiday weekend last year.
The crackdown saw police ticketing drivers caught doing more than four kilometres an hour over the permanent stated speed limit.
Prime Minister John Key says the government would consider giving police more resources to continue their "zero tolerance" policy on speed, but he wants proof it was their blitz that kept the weekend road toll at an all-time low.
Motoring affairs manager for the Automobile Association Mike Noon says that while other variables were also in play in keeping the road toll to a minimum, the crackdown was largely effective.
"Road safety is one of those things that's so complex you can never pick a silver bullet. It will have contributed... there's always a number of factors," he says.
"I think the fact that the police were out there in such numbers and so visible and we had a situation where we actually got road safety top of mind for a lot of people who were travelling and that just meant motorists were really taking some care when driving."
He also expressed satisfaction with the way the system was employed.
"I think there was some concern about their getting a ticket, people watching their odometers... we were a bit concerned that motorists would be sort of harvested at the end of speed lanes and the police said that that wouldn't happen so that was good." He says.
However, Noon believes the police focus on speed, alcohol and seatbelts needs to be expanded.
"There's a lot of things out there which are equally as important. The highest coded cause of crashes is poor observation, and that is about fatigue, inattention, distraction," he says.
The possibility of examining countries that employ the low tolerance level permanently, such as Australia, should, warned Noon, be looked at in context.
"They've (Australia) got a lot more divided roads... and that means you can pass at any time. They also have different speed limits on their motorways. So... maybe start looking at some of the speed limits as well."
Ultimately though he says the responsibility lies with the driver.
"If we get that message about really taking care as drivers ourselves, and understanding that we don't need the police there to keep us safe, because we're doing it ourselves," he says.
Police will now evaluate the weekend's "zero-tolerance" trial policy on speed before making any decision on extending it or applying it again.
Should the police be given resources to continue a
policy of zero tolerance of speeding? Have your say on our
messageboard below.
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Add a Comment:
Post new commentflyer said on 2010-06-09 @ 13:24 NZDT: Report abusive post
One weekend is hardly statistical proof that reducing tolerance saves lives. maybe it does, but it was also cruddy weather and many people stayed home or drove more carefully - Holiday travel tends to be significantly slower anyway. Police need to get the blinkers off - there are more factors than just speed (attitude, situational awareness, road design, impatience etc) that contibute to the road toll.
Rickk said on 2010-06-09 @ 09:25 NZDT: Report abusive post
I travel alot & the biggest problem is not the speeders but the slow traffic that lets other drivers build up behind. 2nd car failure and then crazy moves to pass 3, 4 or even 5 cars. I set my cruise control @ 105km which is 103 on the road. police should target slow driver with a tailback. thanks