Tararua District police: Take it easy out on the roads

Winter time can mean more accidents. Photo / Bevan Conley.

Police Senior Sergeant Carey Williamson is Tararua response manager

OPINION

As we close in on the shortest day with a few more months of reduced daylight hours and poor weather ahead, I urge drivers to be careful on the district’s roads.

We tend to see an increase in crashes during the winter months that are attributed to drivers not driving to the conditions.

Please slow down and increase following distances in foggy or wet weather. Make sure that your vehicle’s lights, tyres, and other safety equipment are all up to scratch before you head out on the road.

Report burnouts

People using vehicles to do wheelies, skids, and burnouts continue to cause havoc both here and in other areas.

We ask that if you observe offenders driving like this that you report this to us immediately. This dangerous, inconsiderate, and destructive behaviour can result in vehicles used for these activities being impounded at the owner’s expense.

Drivers can be charged with offences which carry mandatory terms of disqualification, terms of imprisonment, and hefty fines.

Recently a number of vehicles have been impounded locally and offenders are facing charges in court as a result of this type of offending.

Capturing this activity on film, but only if you can do so without putting yourself at risk, can be great evidence which could help us to hold people to account and discourage others from becoming involved.

Reminder about scams

As you will no doubt have seen in many media formats fraud offending continues to rob many Kiwis of their hard-earned money. Our area is no exception with regular reports of losses running into the tens of thousands.

Many of these offences result from people engaging with unsolicited contact from offenders claiming to be from genuine businesses, such as banks.

Never, ever give out login or password details to a cold caller, if in doubt hang up and contact the business on their primary phone number.

Staff movements

We have some staff movements with Sergeant Sian Ruck taking some extended leave.

Sian’s position as the prevention sergeant will be filled by Sergeant Dion Kumeroa who is normally based at Palmerston North.

Constable Willie Carr has also taken up a position in Whanganui and has moved there with his family.

We are also carrying a few vacancies across the district and are currently trying to fill these with internal applicants and new recruits.

If you or someone you know has ever considered joining the police there has never been a better time to make the leap.

Call 0800 NEWCOPS or stop in at any of our stations and talk to the staff about how to get your journey started.