Two men have been fined after police snapped them hanging out the doors of a car drinking beer and gesturing to other motorists in a 70km zone south of Pukekohe.
Their behaviour has been branded "ridiculous" and "selfish" by police as they try to keep the roads safe and roadtoll from rising.
Sergeant Neil Mansill said a patrol car pulled a Lexus over this afternoon just south of Pukekohe.
"As is to be expected we have a number of extra staff out and about on the roads and while other drivers were doing the right thing alerting us to the problem, one of our officers had already noticed there was a problem," he said.
"Two male passengers in a southbound Lexus heading from Pukekohe to the Waikato to celebrate New Year's Eve had started drinking early and were sitting outside of the car on the windowsill, facing each other as they drank their beers over the car roof and gestured to other motorists in a 70km/h stretch of road works at Rangiriri."
"But those fines could have been the least of their worries. You know, their behaviour at this time of year is pretty selfish," Mr Mansill said.
"While police are paid to be out on the roads at this time, this part of the Waikato is serviced by volunteer ambulance and fire crews and these dedicated people have to give up their precious family time to deal with this type of idiotic behaviour.
"I think when these two lads sober up they might want to spare a thought for the potential consequences."
Mr Mansill said the men's behaviour was "at the far end of the scale" and the majority of motorists have been well behaved.
"Traffic flows coming out of Auckland and into the Waikato have been very heavy and colleagues across the district are reporting big numbers of vehicles heading towards the Coromandel and Raglan," he said.
"Our message is to watch your speed, your following distance and keep within your lane and that way we'll all reach the beach in one piece, after all road safety is everyone's responsibility."
