Abusive drivers tick off police

A senior Bay policewoman threatened with having her throat slit says the public has no idea of the abuse officers get from speedsters and drink-drivers.

Acting Senior Sergeant Deidre Lack, of the road policing unit, said a middle-aged man recently snarled, "I'll slit your throat" after she pulled him over. She asked him to repeat the statement for two other officers to hear.

The man was charged with threatening to kill and was remanded in custody to reappear in the Tauranga District Court in mid-April.

Ms Lack relayed broad details of the February death threat in frustration, after a six-day speed campaign last week saw 107 tickets issued to drivers who clocked at least 16km/h above the legal limit. This accounted for half of the 214 speeding tickets issued.

She said speeding motorists weren't getting the message and often took out their anger at receiving tickets on police.

"We quite often get abused for doing our jobs. The public don't realise what we have to put up with," Ms Lack told the Bay of Plenty Times.

She said speeding drivers often turned out to be drunk, meaning they were irritable and prone to acting out. It was not just young drivers doing the abusing.

Ms Lack said it was not uncommon for middle-aged men and women, often "mums and dads", to make angry comments about "revenue-collecting" when police "should be catching murderers".

Western Bay road safety co-ordinator Lynette Hines was equally frustrated by the number of people continuing to speed despite increased awareness about the issue.

She referred to the "three Es" - education, enforcement and engineering - often referred to by the Tauranga/Western Bay Road Safety Committee and said the "education" element obviously wasn't sinking in.

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES