Police are adopting a low tolerance enforcement policy towards speeding on the roads for the rest of the month.
Their policy of ticketing motorists travelling more than 4km/h above the speed limit at long weekends is extended to every day in February.
The police's national manager road policing, Acting Superintendent Rob Morgan, says the approach is about saving lives.
'Lowering the tolerance has made a real difference to the number of deaths on the roads over the holiday periods.
'But we have identified February as a high-risk month in terms of road safety and the road toll.”
Rob says year round, excluding February, 21 per cent of fatal/serious crashes have speed as a contributing factor. This increases to 22 per cent during February.
The lowered tolerance was introduced at Queen's Birthday weekend in 2010 as a response to an Easter road toll that year of 12.
Holiday periods that have had the lowered speed tolerance, excluding the Christmas period, have had 46 per cent less crashes (for all crash types) than 2009 holiday periods that did not have the lowered speed tolerance.
Rob says crashes with speed as a contributing factor decreased by 27 per cent for the same period.
'We are seeing that the holiday periods that have the lower speed tolerance have had less crashes and a smaller percentage of drivers exceeding 100km/h.
'So we are confident that it is reasonable to conclude that the lower speed tolerance has had a positive impact on driver behaviour and in lowered overall crash risk.”
9 comments
February, High risk month
Posted on 02-02-2012 19:30 | By john2000
Feb a high risk month eh. How about December and January and every month of the year. What a great sales pitch for fining more drivers. How about a common sense approach depending on driving conditions, amount of traffic about, near schools or dry open roads? Or would that spoil the revenue?
SAY WHAT !!
Posted on 02-02-2012 20:47 | By RORTSCAM
Attacking wrong target and it is not working check the statistics out.
Posted on 02-02-2012 23:36 | By CC8
" We are confident , that it is reasonable to conclude......." ??? what a load of nonsense.
Stare at the speedo not at the traffic.
Posted on 03-02-2012 09:53 | By SpeakUp
How easy to keep motorists in a constant state of paranoia to exceed 100 km/h by 5 kilometers. This obsession will actually avert attention away from traffic to a constant obsessed checking of speed. It will lead to a sluggish open road speed of less than 100 km/h, will increase risk of irate overtakes and will expose motorists further to being used as milk cows for the revenue gathering component of police. Life is dangerous and so is traffic. To expect that ALL risk can be legislated away by fines is as ridiculous as thinking ALL accidents can be avoided in traffic. But it surely makes for easy revenue gathering. Education yes, but not slavery to knee-jerk control.
Here we go again (still)
Posted on 03-02-2012 12:52 | By Persephone
Police making bold assumptions and touting them as fact with nothing more than circumstantial evidence to back any of it up. And then they go home at night and wonder why repect and public confidence in the police is waning.
Low speed tolerance extended
Posted on 03-02-2012 13:15 | By algail
We all know the Govt needs money to pay for Ch-Ch so they should be honest about things stop the B/S about speeds of 4$ks over the limit fines this is simply revenue gathering no matter what high ranking copper may spout before a camera. Can the police verify that any road death suffered so far this year that the offending vehicle was being driven as slow as 4ks above the limit. Many speedometers even modern models can have an inaccuracy level as much 4ks. At times I bet the detectors used have the same margin of error. Were a crash to occur at 4ks over the limit it would simply be because the driver had his / her eye on the damn speedo instead of the road. It is time the police got the real safety issue into view 'keep your eyes on the road and your mirrors ' so as to ensure your safety and the safety of other road users. Alastair Bethlehem
Posted on 03-02-2012 14:08 | By whatsinaname
the speed limnit is 100KM
Posted on 03-02-2012 14:08 | By whatsinaname
the speed limnit is 100KM
Target slow drivers as well
Posted on 03-02-2012 15:08 | By Pamax
Excessive speed is only part of the equation. Please, also set a MINIMUM speed range and fine slow drivers for creating traffic hazards which obliges law abiding motorists to make overtaking risks on busy roads. Max Lewis, Mt Maunganui
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