Police get help to slow drivers on Auckland speed strip

By MATTHEW TORBIT

Tamaki Drive motorists have been given a stick and a small carrot. As well as their instant fines, speedsters have received a key-ring with the words: "Slow down on Tamaki Drive."

Auckland police district communications manager Noreen Hegarty said the Auckland City Council and ACC had been helping police target one of Auckland's notorious speeding zones.

"Tamaki Drive is a recognised hot-spot for speeding and obviously we police it as such," Ms Hegarty said. "Any initiative that impacts on people's speeding in a positive way is worthwhile in our books."

One speeding motorist, who did not want to be named, said she would not speed again after being caught at the weekend.

"The fine and demerit points will now make me slow down all over Auckland." The driver received a $120 fine after being clocked at 67km/h in the 50km/h area.

Auckland City Council traffic safety manager Karen Hay said there had been 138 speed-related crashes along Tamaki Drive in the past five years, two of them fatal.

Before the campaign the council found that 56 per cent of drivers were exceeding 50km/h along Tamaki Drive. Afterwards the figure had dropped to 49 per cent.

"It is a really good result in that short space of time."

Ms Hay said the Land Transport Safety Authority helped pay for road safety initiatives in high-risk areas.

The Tamaki Drive project ran from June to mid-July.

"The community really got behind the project and most of the cafes along Tamaki Drive were handing out 'slow down' balloons, chocolates and key-rings.

"The key-rings were also handed out by the police to raise awareness."

Ms Hay said more campaigns were planned for other high-risk areas of Auckland.

Herald Feature: Road safety