Police will do our part to ensure your safety on the roads this festive season, but road users need to play their part.
Motorists should expect to see Police anytime and anywhere over the Christmas break in an effort to make sure that everyone travelling the roads and highways reaches their destination safely.
Superintendent Steve Greally, Director of Road Policing says there is no excuse for any driver to be endangering their lives and those of others with unsafe behaviours. Our people will be visible right throughout Aotearoa.
“Our stance on safety remains straightforward. Drivers need to be clear that if they are detected speeding or driving impaired by alcohol or drugs, they will be ticketed.
“The best way to avoid being ticketed is not to speed, not to drive drunk or under the influence of drugs. It’s that simple.”
Over the Christmas period last year, 21 lives were tragically lost in road crashes, road safety partners aim not to have a repeat of that figure this year.
There will be a co-ordinated, highly visible Police presence at high-risk locations including State Highways and rural areas, during peak travel periods right throughout the country.
The four main behaviours that contribute to deaths and injuries will again be a focus for Police over the Christmas period as it has been all year round. Those behaviours being speed, driving while impaired by alcohol, drugs, or fatigue, driving distracted using a cell phone and not being properly restrained.
“We will unapologetically continue with our record levels of breath testing and issue infringements as part of our prevention and enforcement role. Since 1 July, we have conducted over 2 million breath tests nationally, so this should be viewed as a motivating factor for all motorists to drive safely” Superintendent Greally says.
“Road deaths and serious injuries are preventable. We have seen over time that our enforcement action has proven to deter people from driving dangerously.”
Road safety is something we have to take responsibility for, should we all play our part to be safe on our roads, we’ll go a long way to ensuring no family receives tragic news this Christmas.
Let’s make it a summer to remember on our roads for all the right reasons. We can all work together to avoid unnecessary road trauma.
Ministry of Transport will be providing updates on holiday road toll data throughout the break. Further background and historical crash data for the holiday period can be found at: https://www.transport.govt.nz/statistics-and-insights/safety-road-deaths/holiday-periods/
