Letter to the Editor Tuesday December 17, 2013

Time well spent

Northland Police would like to point out that some of the facts contained in the editorial regarding recent seat belt checkpoints in Kaitaia (A belt too far, December 10) are incorrect.

Secondly, police would also like to state that these checkpoints are carried out to prevent people, including the younger vulnerable members of our communities, from being killed or seriously injured on our roads.

With regard to the first point, there were no Child Protection Team members working on the checkpoint the day Mr Jackson was stopped.

Having other staff, such as CIB, assisting with checkpoints is beneficial in that they have a good knowledge of local offenders. Due to that knowledge, we have sometimes stopped gang members carrying drugs and firearms. Recently a wanted man was stopped at a checkpoint in Moerewa. He was wanted for an armed robbery in Kaikohe that took place in September.

All police staff help each other on various operations. Road policing staff support CIB on a number of occasions, and in turn those staff help road policing members. Other staff members can see first-hand the number of people who are not wearing seat belts or children that are not correctly restrained.

Thirty-three per cent of the tickets issued for non-compliance around restraints were for children not properly restrained. This is a disaster waiting to happen to some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

We focus on the fatal five causes of crashes, which include speed, alcohol, non-use of restraints, high-risk driving and high-risk drivers, i.e. those who breach their licence conditions.

Twenty people have died on our roads so far this year, and 20 per cent of those deaths were due to people not wearing a seatbelt. No family wants to lose a loved one as a result of not wearing a seatbelt or being involved in a crash that could have been prevented.

Targeting restraint usage in a 50km/h zone is undertaken for the following reasons:

1. We want to stop drivers who are not wearing seat belts before they head in to a 100km/h zone where the consequences are highly likely to be catastrophic if they crash. The recent fatal crash at Pamapuria was an example of this.

2. Regardless of whether it is a 50km/h zone or not, there will be serious consequences for anyone who is involved in a crash.

3. It is safer for our staff to stop vehicles in a 50km/h zone than to try and stop vehicles that are travelling at much higher speeds.

We make no apology for keeping our communities safe, and will continue to carry out these checkpoints to reduce victimisation on the roads.

Wouldn't it be good to have a zero road toll on our roads in Northland?

Everyone has a role to play.

INSPECTOR WENDY ROBILLIARD

Far North Area Commander

INSPECTOR MURRAY HODSON

Northland Road Policing Manager