At the end of the official holiday period for Queen's Birthday Weekend Waikato Police say on one hand the loss of a woman's life in the Coromandel was tragic but the weekend wasn't without some positives.
District Road Policing Manager, Inspector Freda Grace, said Friday crash on SH25 near Whitianga that claimed the life of a 52-year-old Auckland woman is still under investigation and it may be a while before what, if any, charges an overseas tourist driving on the wrong side of the road may face.
"While expressing our sympathies to the families affected we are also reflecting on a very close call on Sunday that saw a potential loss of live averted due to road engineering improvements.
"That incident involved an elderly woman travelling south on SH1 near Te Kauwhata about 1pm who became distracted and drifted into the centreline towards oncoming traffic."
Mrs Grace said fortunately for the woman, and oncoming motorists, wire rope barriers have been installed along much of SH1 meaning the woman escaped injury or even worse, though her car was badly damaged.
"Engineering, education and enforcement form the pyramid of road safety and in this case engineering enhancements saved at least one life. "
The other positive is in terms of education, we've spoken over recent weeks about the need for a change in mindset out on our roads and as part of the weekend's "Make it to Monday" campaign we asked motorists to report bad driving behaviour."
Mrs Grace said this appeal hit a chord with Waikato drivers with about 285 reports phoned in to Police over the official Queen's Birthday holiday period.
"Many calls involved people overtaking in inappropriate areas or crossing the centreline so these calls play an important part for us in terms of preventing road trauma. As things turned out, there were about 47 vehicle crashes in the Waikato over the official holiday period.
"In addition, over the weekend there seven drivers found driving over the legal alcohol limit with two in Te Kauwhata and five in Hamilton, that's seven interventions by Police that prevented potential fatalities."
Mrs Grace said while the Queen's Birthday holiday period was now behind us, motorists shouldn't rest on their laurels.
"As we've said previously, road safety is an everyday priority and the focus for road policing staff this month is speed so if you're exceeding a posted speed limit you can expect to face enforcement action."
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