Police are becoming increasingly concerned about the dangerous driving behaviour currently being displayed by motorists following an operation in New Plymouth and two head-on crashes in the Bay of Plenty.
Western Bay of Plenty road policing manager Senior Sergeant Ian Campion says a Holden Commodore crossed the centreline and crashed with a Toyota travelling in the opposite direction.
The second crash happened on Sunday afternoon, when a car crossed the centreline on SH2, near Pongakawa.
It's not just Bay residents who have been busted crossing the centreline.
New Plymouth Police ran an operation on December 29 which highlighted a number of areas of concern in relation to driving behaviour.
Of particular concern is the number of drivers regularly crossing the centre line on blind corners, says Senior Sergeant Karley Hunt.
'The photos attached were taken over a 45 minute period and show several vehicles crossing the centreline on this central New Plymouth corner on Carrington Street.
'All these incidents, as well as others seen but not photographed, could have had devastating consequences if a car was coming the other way at the same time.
'The high number of fatal and serious injury crashes over the holiday season have already left a number of people grieving due to the actions of some drivers on New Zealand roads,” says Karley.
'It's time people took this seriously and stopped taking risks behind the wheel.
'For the sake of your family, my family and the wider community family - please drive safely.
'Cutting blind corners to get somewhere faster is not worth the risk of someone losing their life or causing other unnecessary harm and victimisation to people in our community.
The infringement fee for failing to keep left is $150 and also comes at a cost of 20 demerit points.
'Rather than issue tickets and demerit points, we would much prefer it if people would consider their driver behaviour whilst out on our roads.
'That way the community around them can remain safe and uninjured.”
5 comments
stupid
Posted on 10-01-2017 11:34 | By dumbkof2
the police should have a look at welcome bay rd white lines mean nothing. motorists crossing the lines on every corner
Just wondering
Posted on 10-01-2017 11:43 | By old trucker
As you can see there is a car parked on the very corner if it was not there then you would be able to move over to left, just wondering if they are hiding taking these pictures,im sure they have done the same thing, me thinks this is being a bully and revenue gatherings,my Tuppence worth Thanks No1 in the Bay, 10-4 out.
Sheesh
Posted on 10-01-2017 11:45 | By Politically Incorrect
Spot the pattern in the images - all 4x4 type vehicles. Maybe slow down on corners or get yourself a vehicle you can actually handle? Of course, this doesn't excuse the idiot car drivers who also do this, just thought it funny that all the images released were of big vehicles. Nice to see the Police recognising that speeding isn't the only factor in accidents - idiots play a much bigger role.
Old trucker
Posted on 10-01-2017 16:05 | By maildrop
Yeh, maybe if that car wasn't parked in the lay-by they could have took the corner even quicker and used the lay-by when under steer kicked in, and took out a pedestrian or run into the back of another parked car that isn't shown in the photo. Or they could have just stuck to their lane, which looks plenty wide enough, and not driven like turds. Your excusing of bad driving is a real worry.
Increasingly concerned
Posted on 11-01-2017 07:29 | By tibs
Why does it take an operation in New Plymouth for them to become increasingly concerned? The pictures shown hardly look like crime of the century. I figure they hid to take them otherwise the motorists would have reacted. I know from truckies that they do hide to take pictures. Also they don't say whether the local crashes were on corners or on straights. Just a PR press release. I can't believe how many and by how far people wander in their lanes.
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