Tūrangi Police: your mobile phone can earn you a fine and demerits

Police will be running drink-driving checkpoints as part of Operation Deterrence. Photo / Hawke's Bay Today

Tēnā koutou katoa. We had a pretty good school holidays in Tūrangi, with the whole town extremely busy with all the holidaymakers here. With the mountain up and running there were people coming and going, the roads were busy and it's still continuing now.

Keeping an eye on all of that kept us busy and in addition we're running Operation Deterrence, which I talked about in my last report.

This is a nationwide police operation focusing on RIDS - restraints (seatbelts and car seats), impairments (drink, drugs, fatigue, medication), distraction (cellphones) and speed.

What we've found during this operation is that people are still travelling too fast on our roads. We did some speed work out on State Highway 1 and caught a few people going too fast in the 80km/h zone around Frethey Drive and Korohe. This operation is about people slowing down and driving to the conditions, especially now that the weather's not the greatest.

Around town, we've also seen some drink-driving. We stopped four drink-drivers last weekend, which is a high number for us and disappointingly, they were all locals as well.

Can I remind anyone in the community, whether a licensed premises or a place where there's drinking going on, that hosts need to be responsible around providing alcohol. To the drivers themselves, there's no excuse to drink and drive. We will be breath testing every car we stop so consider yourselves warned.

Sergeant Te Reipa Morunga, Tūrangi Police. Photo / NZME

The other thing we've been seeing is people on their mobile phones, which falls under the distraction part of our current operation.

When you're driving, your focus should be on the road and getting everybody in your car to the destination safely. Put the phone away and keep your eyes on the road.

If you're caught using a mobile phone while driving, the penalties are a $150 fine and 20 demerit points.

In terms of other police matters, we have had a few burglaries around town but relatively few family harm incidents reported. We are investigating the burglaries and as always, welcome any information from the public that can help.

Kia haumaru te noho - stay safe, Te Reipa.