KEY POINTS:
Auckland police are targeting a region labelled "killing fields" with a major road safety crackdown dubbed Operation Crop-Duster.
It is the third time that police and the Rodney District Council, with ACC and Transit NZ have combined forces to target deaths and crashes in the lead-up to the busiest time on the region's roads.
The 10-week initiative, which will involve local advertising campaigns, education and police enforcement, was launched yesterday at a meeting in Orewa attended by police, fire, St John Ambulance and local authority representatives.
Waitemata strategic road policing manager Superintendent John Kelly described Rodney roads as "the killing fields" of the Waitemata police district. Its road deaths accounted for more than half of the district's road toll, with 19 deaths last year.
Police would be targeting speeding, drink-driving and seatbelt use.
Officers would be out in force with speed cameras, the booze bus and check points, with extra emphasis during school holidays and weekends when more crashes occurred.
Mr Kelly said previous crackdowns in Rodney had significant success.
* State Highway 1 north of Whangarei was closed for four hours yesterday after two Korean tourists were killed just south of Towai.
Police said the tourists, a man and a woman, were driving to the Bay of Islands when their Mazda car collided with a southbound Toyota Rav4 vehicle.
The couple's names will not be released until next of kin had been notified through the Korean embassy.
