Slow driver holds up traffic

A man enjoying a leisurely drive in the Coromandel sun was oblivious to the traffic chaos he was causing behind him, Waikato's top cop says.
A driver travelling 25 kmh along a Coromandel road caused traffic mayhem on Tuesday, creating a backlog of 50 to 70 cars.

A line of between 50 to 70 cars was backing up behind the man as he drove along State Highway 25 from Waihi to Whangamata at 25 kmh, district commander Superintendent Bruce Bird said.

Bird, who is travelling around the region to catch up with staff in holiday hot spots, was one of those caught in the back-log.

When he pulled the driver over and enquired about his very low speed the man told him he was "just out enjoying a drive in the sun and hadn't given much thought about checking his mirrors".

"We ask people to drive in a considerate manner, check your mirrors and where safe, pull over and allow other motorists to pass."

Bird said there were also a lot of boats and caravans being towed, with the intersections of SH1 and SH29 at Piarere and the intersection with SH2 and SH26 particularly busy.

While "slow, inconsiderate drivers" were a problem on the east coast, it was those with a taste for alcohol, speed and stolen cars that were coming to the attention of officers in the Western Waikato.

On Tuesday a car took off from police in Huntly after they tried to pull it over after the driver failed to give way.

"Pulling the car over, the sergeant approached and noticed that along with the 19-year-old woman driving, there were four other females in the car but before he could speak to them the driver sped off.

"While a pursuit of the fleeing driver was initiated, the sergeant quickly abandoned it due to the nature of the woman's driving."

The car was located abandoned at an unoccupied property nearby. It had been stolen from a burglary in the town earlier in the day.

"A responding police dog and handler successfully tracked the five occupants of the car to another property where two women were arrested."

The driver faces a variety of driving, excess breath alcohol and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle charges while a 17-year-old passenger faces burglary and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle charges.

21 comments

Dick Head

Posted on 30-12-2015 15:20 | By bushman

What a complete idiot 25 k


So di this totally

Posted on 30-12-2015 16:00 | By The Caveman

inconsiderate drive get a ticket for his totally inconsiderate driving - somehow I doubt it!!!


Seen it many times.....

Posted on 30-12-2015 16:09 | By jed

Unfortunately cops do not enforce the slow driver rules unless they themselves are inconvenienced. Lazy police.


Chill Out

Posted on 30-12-2015 17:52 | By Conzar

A driver going too slow is far better than most of NZ drivers who are aggressive eager to overtake given any chance. We should all learn a bit from a human who is so happy to live in the moment.


Ticket?

Posted on 30-12-2015 18:01 | By Twinkle Toes

I hope he got a ticket. What an inconsiderate motorist.


I

Posted on 30-12-2015 19:26 | By Capt_Kaveman

followed one today on the Kaimai ranges and police wonder why there are crashes


unbelievable

Posted on 30-12-2015 19:43 | By jencap

May God protect me from slow drivers drunk drivers, drivers who never really learned to drive, blind, deaf and stupid drivers.


Fool

Posted on 31-12-2015 08:30 | By Roger

It's lucky no one got impatient and made a bad choice because of that fool , How many times has he created havoc before and caused accidents . Catch a bus clown.


Police

Posted on 31-12-2015 09:03 | By Kenworthlogger

The Police will say that he is doing under the speed limit so no action there. Had the driver been 4 km over the limit then a national campaign would be set in force. Make any sense to anyone????


Who's the fool

Posted on 31-12-2015 10:27 | By milka

The driver holding everyone up is not the fool the supposed top cop has shown what an idiot he is and how stupid the law is if they don't ticket these morons about time for a law change


mirrors

Posted on 31-12-2015 16:02 | By mtsax

You would fail your licence for not checking your mirrors in this instance he should lose his for not being aware of the potential hazards He should be fined


Bad drivers

Posted on 31-12-2015 17:12 | By jaydeegee

Funny how everybody else is a bad or inconsiderate driver! Majority of crashes and deaths are caused by speeding and/or alcohol, not by driving within the speed limit. Patience is just as much a virtue as "consideration". Be cool and take time to smell the roses.


Driving under speed limit.

Posted on 31-12-2015 17:19 | By jaydeegee

The majority of crashes are caused by speed and/or alcohol. Cant find any record of driving within limit causing crashes. Patience is a virtue don't lose it and cause a crash.


Don't ticket

Posted on 31-12-2015 17:58 | By FunandGames

Mak them do a driver refresher course.


No offence?

Posted on 31-12-2015 19:41 | By Murray.Guy

How can someone be oblivious to traffic issues behind him over many kilometres and NOT be committing an offence. The driver wilfully, deliberately chose to be as big a pain in the 'A' as possible, of that I have NO doubt. Conzar suggests we learn from this driver who blatantly ignores the rights of others and puts them at risk. What happened to 'failing to drive with due care and attention'?


GIVE THE MAN A MEDAL

Posted on 01-01-2016 07:47 | By s83cruiser

Just think of how much revenue the Plod couldn't gather from that line up of motorists. the coffers will be a bit skinny over there so I'd be watching out on the way home folks Plod have a lot of lost ground to make up. The driver was that afraid of getting ticketed and was so busy watching his speedo he never though to check his mirrors. 105 kms per hour and you get fined and demerit points...25 kms per hour and the rest of the motoring public hate you and call for your blood....No win situation. Came home from Papamoa East this morning @ 3.15am and had to check my speedo to be sure I was actually moving. I was doing 100Kms per hour and could have sworn I was standing still. I'm sure some of them were doing 140.


What a plonker!

Posted on 01-01-2016 07:57 | By astex

And I am NOT talking about the driver. Obviously the top cop has not read the nz road code lately. If you are travelling slower than the speed limit and there are vehicles following you, you must: keep as close to the left side of the road as possible pull over as soon as it is safe to let following vehicles pass.


I do not believe it...

Posted on 05-01-2016 05:43 | By Boobytrap

The amount of people defending this moron. Mind blowing. Obviously non of you were in the queue waiting for him to get a clue and pull over. It's 25km/h people! If I were in the queue, I would have gotten out of my car, walked up beside him, jumped in in his vehicle and said. "Dude! Be serious!". Utterly absurd!


Booby trap...

Posted on 05-01-2016 14:50 | By GreertonBoy

That would be breaking and entering and assault too probably.... it could also be seen as 'road rage'? I would rather ask the police department to get slow drivers retrained (or see if they are fit to drive) and start booking right lane hogs, ultra slow drivers and other things we all have to put up with every day....


Accident stats

Posted on 08-01-2016 12:37 | By Bay Citizen

Time to record the underlying reasons behind crashes. This is freely done when alcohol is a contributing factor, but ought to be done when a slow driver causes rash manoeuvres by frustrated drivers behind. As it is, such accidents would just be put down to "excessive speed" or "crossing the centre line" which does not account for the real reason the accident occurred.


The worst thing....

Posted on 15-01-2016 14:45 | By GreertonBoy

Is when the angry passing driver has to put down his phone... put his coffee between his legs and pizza on the passengers seat, to be able to change down a ger and give the bird to the slow guy.... dontch just hate that? The coffee always spills.... DoH!!


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