Police to target high risk roads

FILE

The 2015 Winter Road Policing operation will get underway in the Eastern Bay of Plenty tomorrow.

Sergeant Ray Wylie said the operation was aimed at ensuring a lower number of road crashes in and around identified high risk areas in the Eastern Bay.

The operation will be launched tomorrow and will run through to October 4.

The aim of the campaign is to reduce the number of crashes during this period by targeting drivers and riders who fail to drive to the conditions.

Thirty per cent of all crashes during this period last year occurred while the roads were wet or icy.

The Rotoma area on State Highway 30, the Waimana Gorge and Waioeka Gorge (both State Highway 2) have been identified as high risk areas.

Road crashes significantly increase during this period due to changes in climatic conditions resulting in roads becoming slippery from rain and ice.

"The large majority of these crashes are preventable," Mr Wylie said.

Police are asking motorists to be aware of the changing road conditions, particularly as it begins to rain, resulting in a change to the road surface.

During this period there will be a high level of police visibility in these areas in an effort to reduce the number of crashes.

There are a number of things a driver can do to prevent crashes, namely; slow down, double the following distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you, always wear your seatbelt, drive to the conditions and stay entirely within your own lane, he said.

"Police have been working with a number of stakeholders to mitigate this risk, but ultimately it is the driver who needs to take responsibility for their actions.

"Police encourage members of the public to contact police immediately on 111 or *555 to let us know about incidents of bad driving: these incidents often involve drunk, impatient, dangerous or fatigued drivers, and we need to know about them sooner rather than later so we can intervene immediately.

"We also encourage members of the public to call *555 to report changing road conditions or areas of high risk."