Waikato Police are urging the motoring public to play their part this holiday weekend and help make traversing the District’s roads and enjoyable experience and not a hard labour.
Officer in charge of the Waikato Highway Patrol, Senior Sergeant Steve Ambler said the official Labour Weekend holiday period runs from 4pm Friday (23 October) until 6am Tuesday (27 October).
“As part of this our approach this weekend officers will be out in numbers and highly visible on Waikato roads over the long weekend but we can’t do it alone and the public can play a key part alongside us.
“And that part is reporting bad driving behaviour. By looking at the number of driver complaints, known as 1Us, received by us over the first three months of this Fiscal Year we notice an increase compared to the same 3-month period for the previous two years
Mr Ambler said the number of 1U complaints for June-September this year was 1413 while there were 1252 for the same period for Fiscal Year 2014/15 and 1122 for the same period 2013/14.
“This increase indicates to us that the motoring public’s tolerance for anti-social behaviour on our roads is reducing and we want to tap into this to prevent trauma on our roads.”
Mr Ambler said driving complaints to the *555 service are taken very seriously and Police endeavour to respond to them whenever possible.
“We’ve already prevented a number of potential tragedies including stopping a car subject to a driving complaint two weeks ago where the driver was stopped and returned a breath alcohol result of over 1100mgs.
“Earlier this month callers to the *555 service alerted us about two drivers later stopped racing at 200km/h on the Waikato Expressway. Such calls really have the potential to save lives.”
With the Rugby World Cup at a crucial stage this holiday weekend Mr Ambler said it was important drivers ensured they were well rested before heading out on the roads.
“Fatigue plays a major part on and off the paddock. So far this year 33 people have died in 30 crashes on Waikato roads and in 15 of those fatigue and driver distraction have been a contributing factor.
“On the footie field you can bring an impact player of the bench and what we’re trying to educate the motoring public about is that you can do the same thing out on the roads. If you’re watching the game in the early hours of the morning, consider changing drivers and if you’re feeling tired, pull over for a rest.”
Mr Ambler said with heavier than usual traffic volumes expected on the Waikato roading network, it is crucial driver’s maintain their attention levels.
“Just as we have done every other long holiday weekend since 2010, Police will be enforcing a reduced 4km/h speed threshold over Labour Weekend. This means anyone caught exceeding speed limits by more than 4km/h should expect to be ticketed.
“The trick is to drive safe and be safe on Waikato roads so we can all enjoy a safe summer.”
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