Hawke's Bay road fatality toll at zero over Christmas period for the sixth year running

Hawke's Bay Police rolling out their new 'Stay Alive on 5' campaign during the New Year period, which had no deaths on the Napier-Taupo Rd. Photo / Supplied

For the sixth consecutive year Hawke's Bay hasn't had a fatality on the roads over the Christmas and New Year period.

Although this is a positive outcome Eastern District Police road policing Commander Matt Broderick said there were still major issues with speed on the region's "unforgiving roads".

Broderick said they were pleased with the results on the roads but there's always an issue, especially with speed.

"We still had crashes," he said. "The only difference is that they haven't resulted in fatalities."

From 11am on December 28 to 11am on January 4 there were 82 crashes in the Eastern District.

The commander said, on average, there were seven crashes a day in the region.

Police issued 241 infringement notices in that time-frame too in Hawke's Bay. Most of these were for speeding.

"We've just got to keep bashing that message out - speed is the killer," he said.

The road policing commander said most people drove safely and to the conditions, but some people's interpretation of safety did not include speed.

Eastern District Police road policing Commander Matt Broderick said speeding is still a major safety concern on Hawke's Bay roads. Photo / Warren Buckland

"You, I and everybody will make a mistake on the roads; our ability to recover from that mistake is almost entirely based on how fast we were going when we made it," Broderick said.

"If we were going over the speed limit we're not going to recover - our roads are just too unforgiving."

More alcohol checkpoints were placed around Hawke's Bay over the festive period to catch and dissuade those who had been drinking from getting behind the wheel.

Broderick said the police ran the usual checkpoints in Gisborne for New Year festival Rhythm and Vines but also had a couple of checkpoints for those travelling to and from Waimarama.

He added that from their data the number of crashes and traffic complaints were normal for the time of year.

"We haven't had as many drink drivers as normal. The predominance of our infringements has been for speed," he said. "The other predominant one is for not obeying the conditions – or not having a driver's licence."

Police have also launched a new safe driving campaign following a high number of accidents on State Highway 5.

The 'Stay Alive on 5' campaign was created following the death of Tino Tagiilima, who died in a crash on SH5 in October. Photo / Paul Taylor

The "Stay Alive on 5" campaign, organised by Eastern District Police, Waka Kotahi (NZTA), the Taupo District Council and Roadsafe Hawke's Bay, aims to encourage drivers to keep safe on the Napier-Taupo Rd.

Broderick said the campaign resulted in the police focusing their deployment on the treacherous road.

"We know it's a primary route in and out of Hawke's Bay to the north and we know that it is a challenging drive," he said.

There will be a presence of marked and unmarked police cars patrolling the route, as well as a traffic camera van.

Broderick said they were making no apologies for the stricter policing on the state highway.

"People are dying on the road and those that don't die end up with serious injuries because it's unforgiving," he added.

The campaign was first thought up following the death of Tino Tagiilima after a van collided with a truck on SH5 on October 19.