It is a sad reflection on our society that before every public holiday police have to urge motorists to drive safely and keep death off our roads.
You would think we would know what to do by now.
Thankfully, this year there is some good news going in to Queen's Birthday weekend. Police have once again issued a statement, but this time they are urging motorists to go for the record.
The record they are talking about is the number of road fatalities for the year up to this holiday weekend. Hawke's Bay roads have been relatively safe - there have only been three deaths on our roads this year and this is believed to be the lowest in more than 50 years of road toll statistics for the Hawke's Bay Today circulation area from Wairoa to Dannevirke.
It compares with 10 at the same stage last year. This figure quickly became 15 with five deaths in a few hours on the first day of last year's Queen's Birthday holiday weekend. Four of those deaths were in a single-vehicle smash in Putorino, 60km north of Napier. Four men who had been drinking and not wearing seatbelts died when their Mitsubishi Pajero crashed on Waikare Rd.
