Unrestrained car users belted in pocket

THAT'S $100K PLEASE: Drivers in Wairarapa forked out more than $100,000 last year for not wearing seat belts. PHOTO/FILE

The number of tickets issued to motor-vehicle users for not wearing seatbelts in Wairarapa shot up by 19 per cent in 2014, costing those caught out more than $100,000.

Police figures show the number not wearing a proper restraint increased from 797 in 2013 to 949 in 2014. The value of tickets increased from $113,550 in 2013 to $135,000 in 2014.

Masterton traffic policing Sergeant Chris Megaw said the rise probably reflected an increased focus on enforcement.

"There has been a direction from above that restraints are a very important safety element in cars and save lives, and the direction is to get out there and prosecute people for that kind of offending," Mr Megaw said.

Checking child restraints met standards was also a priority.

"We do a lot of checkpoints with our Plunket people and our road-safety people around the school and child-care areas.

"We are actively targeting child-care centres with our road-safety partners, and mothers will see that they will arrive at 8 o'clock on a Tuesday morning and there will be four or five staff in their glowcoats poking their noses in."

Many tickets issued to parents would be compliance tickets, which could be withdrawn if the required improvement was made. Most parents were eager to bring their children's car seats up to standard and complied, Mr Megaw said.

The figures released by police also showed the number of tickets issued for using a cellphone while driving rose 48 per cent, with $8480 worth of tickets issued, with 111 tickets issued in Wairarapa for cellphone offences, up from 75 in 2013.

Despite legislation introduced in 2009 effectively prohibiting drivers from using cellphones, many drivers were still using them, Mr Megaw said.

"It's still a concern. You see it off-duty all the time. There are other ways. You can use bluetooth and that sort of thing."

Many drivers also denied using their phones when stopped by police, he said.

"It's hard for people to admit unless someone sees them and they crash. But we do get crashes that occur and we think how did that occur - how can someone have driven off a straight piece of road?"

Alcohol-related driving offences decreased 15.7 per cent, falling from 260 in 2013 to 219 in 2014.

The number of drink-drivers had generally trended down since 2010, with numbers expected to remain fairly static in the future unless legislation changed again, Mr Megaw said.

Eight offences related to the lower alcohol limit, which came into force in December, 2014.

With the winter sports season in progress, police would be targeting those who might be drinking after games, he said.

"We'll be concentrating more on early evening checkpoints to give people the message that drink-driving after games is not particularly cool."

The information released also showed the number of officer-issued speeding tickets increased by 30.5 per cent, with Wairarapa drivers paying out $272,390 in tickets last year.

There was one ticket issued for running a red light, which might have involved failing to stop at a level crossing, Mr Megaw said.