Statement to be attributed to Senior Sergeant Nicholas Leigh, Otago Coastal Road Policing Manager:
Just because our children are on school holidays, doesn’t mean your driving habits should take a holiday as well.
Otago Coastal Area Police are concerned about the behaviour of motorists exceeding the speed limit and putting themselves, their passengers, and other road users at extreme risk.
We’re aware of concerns raised by the small community of Clinton, in South Otago, about people exceeding the speed limit on SH1 through their small town.
This area has a playground and public toilets, with many people regularly crossing the road.
On Saturday Police targeted Clinton in a speed operation. Ninety motorists were detected by a camera driving at excess speed through the town. In the 50km/h area, many motorists were caught travelling in the high 60s and low 70s.
One driver was stopped after being caught travelling at more than 100km/h, and his licence was suspended for 28 days.
We know speed is one of the four main contributors to death and injury on our roads and this excessive speed leaves no time for a driver to react to anything.
This driving puts everyone at risk – the driver, their passengers, and anyone else on or around the roads. The slightest miscalculation can lead to a collision.
Your local Police are out on our roads and determined to take action to prevent harm from happening – do us a favour, and yourselves, by giving us no reason to need to intervene.
If you are out on our roads and witness dangerous driving you can contact Police on 111 if there is a likely imminent danger.
Call *555 FREE from a mobile phone to report road incidents which are urgent but not life-threatening. This includes such things as non-injury crashes, traffic congestion, breakdowns and obstructions on the highway.
