Police encourage motorists to use *555 for errant drivers

There were 16 drivers who will be appearing in court for driving with too much alcohol in their system this Easter weekend. Photo/ File

Tail gating, crossing the centre line and dangerous overtaking were all risky driving behaviours reported to police by concerned motorists on Northland roads this Easter weekend.

Motorists in the region were quick to dob in dangerous drivers with 42 complaints made to police via *555 or 111 between Thursday, when a bulk of the long weekend holidayers poured into Northland and yesterdayat 11am. Police say by reporting the dangerous drivers it could have saved fatal and serious injury crashes.

Inspector Chris McLellan, Northland police prevention manager, said it was good to see motorists were not tolerating bad driving.

"These are driving behaviours that are unsatisfactory and cause deaths. For us it's a priority police matter which we give urgent police attention to and once we get details of the driver's location our staff respond."

Police would be highly visible out on the highways this week so police encouraged motorists to use *555.

While police were anticipating an increase in traffic travelling south last night a number of people were expected to stay in Northland this week and start heading south at the end of the week.

During the same period, from Thursday until 11am yesterday, there had been 35 vehicle crashes reported to police but the majority were non-injury. The official holiday period ended at 6am today and at edition time there had not been any fatal crashes in the region.

Highway patrol officers had been busy with 150 tickets being issued in the Whangārei and Kaipara area, mostly for excessive speeds. One motorist can expect a phone call after police clocked a car travelling in the opposite direction at 160km/h.

What was of concern was the number of people detected driving with an excess breath alcohol level, with 16 people being caught over the limit.

In Kaitaia on Saturday there were two drivers caught over the legal limit within five minutes just after 6pm.

In another Kaitaia incident a police car was rammed during a slow-speed pursuit.
McLellan said the pursuit was between 15 and 30km/h around Kaitaia streets. It's alleged at one point the 48-year-old driver overtook police then slowed down but would not stop.

When the driver finally pulled over in a driveway he was breath tested and blew 981 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath - well over the legal limit of 250mcg for drivers aged 20 and over.

One key message McLellan had for drivers heading home later this week was: "Please take your time and be patient."