Effective road policing saves lives

Assistant Commissioner Dave Cliff is highlighting to staff the importance of their work in preventing road trauma to slow New Zealand’s mounting road toll.

By the end of the Queen’s Birthday weekend, 135 people had died on our roads in 2014, compared with 106 at the same point in 2013.

Dave says consistent and concerted enforcement of life-saving laws, with particular focus on breath-testing at night when most drink-drivers offend, and zero tolerance of low-end speeding, makes an enormous difference.

“The more we focus on offending that kills and injures people, the more effective we are - but it requires everyone to enforce the law.”

He recalls a crash in which a farmer who regularly drove just a few hundred metres without a safety belt to a neighbouring farm was thrown from his vehicle and killed. “Our staff attending said a safety belt would have saved him. Even on short trips, and on quiet country roads, safety belts are a life-saver.”

Dave says the concerns about overseas drivers must not divert attention from key behaviours that kill and injure. “Overseas driver crashes are an issue we take seriously – but this is a contributory factor in less than two percent of fatal and injury crashes.

“The things killing most people are still drink-driving, speeding and failing to wear safety belts. Stopping offenders, holding them accountable and breath-testing people save lives.”

• The success of the Police-led Safer Summer publicity campaign, which aided a record low Summer toll, has earned an award from the Public Relations Institute of NZ, presented to Cam Moore, Ross Henderson and Kathryn Fitzpatrick from the Public Affairs Group.
  

Behind the scenes at the video shoot. Photo: Cam Moore, Public Affairs

From the mouths of babes… The road safety wisdom of Wellington primary school children has made a Police Public Affairs video in support of Make it to Monday – the Queen’s Birthday weekend safety campaign - a huge online hit, chalking up more than 25,000 views within days. In the video, Schools Community Services officer Constable Sarah Wright questions the children, who respond with cute, hilarious and profound insights. See it here.