High-profile police checkpoints targeting alcohol and drug-impaired drivers will continue to be a major focus in Tauranga this summer after 2015 ended with 18 people dying on Western Bay roads.
Hundreds of motorists were tested at two checkpoints leading into central Mount Maunganui on New Year's Eve as part of a huge police crackdown that saw at least 15 people arrested for drink-driving by 5am yesterday.
Western Bay police area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton said the arrests included a male driver clocked at 143km/h on State Highway 29A at Te Maunga. The man blew 741mcg of alcohol per litre of breath - almost three times the limit.
Bay of Plenty district road policing manager Inspector Brent Crowe said the focus for 2016 would be to keep fatal and serious crash statistics tracking in the right direction.
Ministry of Transport statistics showed that 29 people were killed on the region's roads in 2015, one fewer than the previous year but well up on deaths from 2011-13.