Driver behaviour at intersections will be the focus of a police operation which begins in Tauranga next month.
Western Bay of Plenty road policing manager acting Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter says the operation will be taking place April 16-22.
'We'll be targeting intersections deemed as being dangerous. These include intersections on State Highways as well as some intersections in the city.”
The intersection at Omokoroa Rd and SH2, the expressway exit near Cambridge Rd and Durham Street are some of many locations which will be observed, says Wayne.
'We do have some very near misses and minor crashes at some of these smaller intersections in the city. People don't stop at stop signs, they drive straight through.”
He hopes the operation can help to better educate drivers.
'I want people to be aware that stop does mean stop. There are a lot of minor crashes that happen out of ignoring the road rules.
'If you are approaching an intersection you need to be aware, even if you are in the right, you should be prepared to take action.
'There are even some accidents that police are not aware of because they aren't reported.
'As always if drivers witness other motorists breaching the road rules and they have a registration number of the vehicle they can report it to police and we will follow it up.
'I personally always follow up these reports and those drivers are then issued with an infringement notice.”
12 comments
Good idea
Posted on 26-03-2018 10:18 | By triplediamond
How about watching the intersection of Cambridge and Moffat Roads?There is a STOP sign there. Does anyone STOP?......NO.About time some infringements were dished out...
Good news
Posted on 26-03-2018 11:47 | By mutley
At last some Police attention to driving behaviour, rather than the old mantra of speed and alcohol. Will there be some attention paid to vehicle safety, especially tyre tread depths during wet weather??
Make sure you hide!
Posted on 26-03-2018 12:30 | By noj
I hope the police will conceal themselves so they can see what really goes on at the intersections and not what goes on when they sit in plain view in their cars. Amazing how everyone is so well behaved when a police car is visible!
Bout time
Posted on 26-03-2018 12:38 | By rastus
I wrote to NZTA some weeks ago about the rising number of drivers I encounter who blatantly run red lights. - No answer so far - Yet to get any sort of acknowledgement on the question as to when 'red light' cameras are to be installed at major intersections. I do not understand why the police are now announcing their 'new' policy - they should be doing this all the time and strangely I have seen police observing bad drivers and doing absolutely nothing about it - beggars beliefe
Here too...
Posted on 26-03-2018 13:01 | By overit
I wish the Police would observe the STOP sign at James Cook Drive and Victory St, Welcome Bay. Its a dangerous joke.
Red light running is nearly all the time.
Posted on 26-03-2018 13:54 | By jed
In busy traffic, I think people nearly always break the traffic light rules. In law orange light means stop if safe. But, in tauranga it means floor the accelerator regardless.
Thirteenth Ave
Posted on 26-03-2018 14:02 | By Told you
Sit at this intersection and fill your weekly quota in one day with red light runners,must be one of the worst in town.
Roundabout rules
Posted on 26-03-2018 14:13 | By Smithie
This will be great especially if they can stop people stopping while they are on a roundabout and giving way when they have the right of way and they should be continuing through. Bay park roundabout before bayfair is a nightmare when there are two lanes and one person decides to stop on the roundabout when they should be driving on, the person in the other lane is either forced to stop or drives on risking an accident.
The most annoying thing
Posted on 26-03-2018 19:38 | By astex
is when drivers enter an intersection when there is no exit path. Every day at the Ohauiti road welcome bay road light I have to sit on a green light with the way blocked by cars on the hatching lines. 7 greens this morning and I couldn't move. That means that around 20 cars extra were banked up on Ohauiti road. In the UK recently police had a one month blitz where EVERY traffic infringement was ticketed. It made drivers aware of all aspects of their driving and the accident rate dropped dramatically. And stayed dropped after the blitz.
Indicate at roundabouts
Posted on 26-03-2018 20:57 | By Steves
The majority of motorists never indicate correctly or don't at all when entering or leaving a roundabout. This in turn slows the traffic, as you have to wait to see as you what is their intentions. Please Fix.
Hope
Posted on 26-03-2018 21:45 | By Tgaboy
They keep an eye on welcome Bay roundabout/traffic lights. I constantly read on this site a lot of vehicle drivers banging on about cyclists not observing traffic rules. Im a cyclist and I can tell you every day I see red light runners at this particular around about. Bout time this spot got a bit of police attention.
Misuse of Stop signs
Posted on 27-03-2018 00:25 | By Bay Citizen
I believe that NZTA have gone overboard with stop signs, when give way signs would be more appropriate, and indeed safer. Stop signs should be reserved for when the view is so compromised that you really do have to stop to check it's safe before pulling out. Too often, junctions with good visibility have been changed from give way to stop in recent years and it seriously impedes one's ability to join the road safely. Worse, the proliferation of stop signs in positions of dubious necessity means that when they really ARE essential, they are often ignored. By way of comparison, try driving round the UK for a bit...stop signs are a very rare sight. Indeed, the regulations over there require each individual stop sign to be personally approved by the Secretary of State for Transport, not just applied here, there and everywhere by local bureaucrats as in NZ.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to make a comment.