KEY POINTS:
If you are heading away this weekend, the police have just one request - make sure you are well rested first and that you drive safely.
Last year, fatigued drivers killed more than 40 people and injured nearly 1000 others. They are harrowing statistics, deaths that are made much harder to take by the fact that they were avoidable.
Police have worked hard with agencies such as ACC and Land Transport in an effort to publicise the dangers of fatigue.
In the Waikato, an annual Winter Fatigue campaign kicked off in August with a fatigue checkpoint that stopped motorists who were travelling along State Highway One. Drivers were offered a hot drink, sausage in bread and advice about the importance of taking power naps.
In Auckland, truck drivers have been stopped in a similar campaign that is expected to be rolled out around the upper North Island early next year.
Senior Sergeant Brian Locke said that while the operation gave drivers a chance to take a break, it was also creating a culture where fatigue was acknowledged in truckies' work and private lives.