Exceptions aplenty
If there were any initiatives applied to enforce, during the Easter break, the "no exceptions" policy that Inspector Murray Hodson described in the article 'Road rules apply on the beach as well' (Northland Age January 22) they were notably ineffective.
The beach at Ahipara would variously resemble either a slalom course, a motocross venue or a speedway track for extended periods of each day of the holiday. The streets throughout the village were similarly abused; dangerous speeding, burnouts, the lot, the perpetrators frequently under-age riders and drivers, most often in or on illegal machines.
How many traffic infringement tickets were issued, I wonder, both on the 'no exceptions' beach and around the streets?
It is quite remarkable that the lack of enforcement is allowed to persist. Each holiday seems worse than the last, as the anything goes message is circulated. If the present policy of languid patrols, ("showing a presence," I believe is the term) is not soon reassessed, an expeditionary force will be required to rescue Ahipara from the hoons, both local and visiting who are destroying the quality of life of those, again both local and visiting who stick to the rules.
