Lives are being saved and injury-related crashes reduced as a result of concerted road policing efforts in the Central Police District.
Police Deputy Commissioner, Steve Long, today rejected the implied criticism in a national newspaper that officers based in the area in readiness for any lahar activity on Mt Ruapehu were "keeping… busy dishing out traffic tickets around the Desert Road".
"The Desert Road is a notorious stretch of tarmac for death and injury," says Deputy Commissioner Long.
"The fact we are deploying an emergency police team to undertake road policing duties is wise use of resources and, bottom line, saves lives and supports our crime and crash reduction strategies.
"If people are getting speeding tickets in the area it’s because they’ve broken the law, pure and simple. It would be remiss if we weren’t ticketing speedsters."
Mr Long says sustained road policing efforts in the Central Police District have resulted in considerable gains in recent years, including:
• A 31.8% reduction in deaths and alcohol related crashes since 1999.
• Open road mean speeds have dropped from 104.3km/h in 1999 to 100.8 km/h in 2004, a 3.8% decrease
• In 1999 25.7% of drivers exceeded 110km/h, but in 2004 this dropped to 4.5.%, a massive drop of 82.5%
• Seatbelt wearing rates have improved from 81% in 1999 to 95% in 2004, a 14.0% improvement
"These successes are just a glimpse of the results achieved with proactive and sustained enforcement," says Mr Long.
"This approach will continue in the wider Central District, under the direction of District Commander, Superintendent Mark Lammas."
ENDS
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