Police seek tougher laws as holiday-makers crawl home

By SCOTT MacLEOD and NZPA

Highways are expected to clog with up to twice the usual amount of traffic tomorrow as holiday-makers wend their way home.

Road managers predict it will be one of four main peaks for traffic this summer. The others are December 26, January 2 and January 13.

Patrol cars will be out in force as police fight to stem a road toll that has rocketed in the past four weeks.

And they have reacted to the blowout by asking for stiffer penalties to be imposed for traffic offences committed during holiday periods.

Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald, the police national road safety manager, is urging a double-demerit point system at holiday time, similar to a scheme in Victoria.

He also wants demerit imposed for tailgating, dangerous lane changes and other smash-causing crimes.

Mr Fitzgerald said he preferred demerit points to fines because they affected everyone's ability to drive equally.

Police would discuss penalty options with the Land Transport Safety Authority and the Transport Ministry.

Drivers are allowed to accumulate 100 demerit points within two years before losing their licences.

They also lose their licences instantly if caught exceeding the speed limit by 50km/h or more.

Under the police's proposed system, licences would be revoked for lesser speed breaches, including an instant loss at 35km/h over the limit.

But the author of the Dog and Lemon Guide to second-hand vehicles, Clive Matthew-Wilson, said demerit points were a poor deterrent because it took too long for a driver to suffer from his or her actions.

"It's like sticking your hand in the fire and getting burned nine months later," he said.

Matthew-Wilson suggested wheel-clamping cars for minor offences, building cheap median barriers through blackspots and requiring motorists to drive with their headlights on.

The holiday road toll ended on Wednesday at 21 - one more than last year's summer holiday period, which was two days longer.

But the grim figures masked some good news, including the facts that last year's road toll was the lowest in 37 years and Northland had no road deaths in December for the first time in memory.

Senior Sergeant Alastair Ward of Northland said police had saturated roads during the holidays and it had paid dividends.

This year has started well for road safety.

The toll to yesterday was one, compared with eight at the same time last year.

LTSA spokesman Andy Knackstedt said the bad holiday toll had to be kept in perspective. It was wrong to place too much importance on one awful month.

And authority director David Wright said last year's toll of 452 equalled a death rate of 1.7 per 10,000 vehicles - much lower than in the past.

If last year's death rate per 10,000 vehicles had been the same as that of 1964, 1159 people would have died.

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