16 April 2009
Police have caught two motorcyclists who reached 211 km/h on their way 'to Kaikoura for a coffee', during an operation targeting high-risk behaviour on South Island's stretch of State Highway One. The riders had their licences suspended immediately for 28 days, and will appear in later in court.
"Motorcyclists are some of the most vulnerable road users in New Zealand and are over-represented in crash statistics," says Acting Canterbury Road Policing Manager Neville Hyland. "This type of behaviour is one of the reasons why. There are plenty of clubs with access to race tracks if you want to travel at these speeds. Otherwise, stick to the rules or be prepared for the consequences."
Police issued 448 tickets for the operation over the first week of April, adding to the 355 issued during the same operation in early March.
The work focused on high-risk behaviour - including speed, cutting corners, overtaking on no-passing lines and failing to wear seat belts - but also encompassed driver licences, following distances and commercial vehicles.
The 286 speeding tickets issued included 11 tickets for speeding in the vicinity of a school, one for exceeding 20 km/h passing a school bus, 126 for exceeding 100 km/h, and 21 for heavy vehicles exceeding 90 km/h.
Eighty tickets were issued for crossing the centre line, which included cutting corners and crossing over no-passing lanes. Twenty four tickets covered offences where drivers didn't comply with traffic lights, stop signs or direction arrows. Twenty nine tickets were issued to heavy or commercial vehicles, including overloading, avoiding Road User Charges, and logbook and dangerous goods offences. Nine drivers received notices for breaching their driver licence conditions, 20 were caught not wearing a seat belt, and three drivers were following too close to the vehicle in front.
Drivers were routinely screened for alcohol when stopped, with four people processed for excess breath alcohol. The worst offender recorded 1,087 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, or 2.7 times the legal limit.
The work was part of a wider five-month operation to improve safety along the main highway from Picton to Bluff. Ending on the 30th of June, Operation Tahi will cycle through phases targeting alcohol, speed, high-risk and dangerous driving, seat belts, and commercial and heavy vehicles.
ENDS
[CONTACTS]
Tasman District:
Senior Sergeant Eric Davy, Highway Patrol (03) 547 6212
Inspector Hugh Flower, Road Policing Manager (03) 546 3840
Canterbury District:
Senior Sergeant Neville Hyland, Acting Road Policing Manager (03) 363 7400
Southern District:
Senior Sergeant Stephen Larking, Highway Patrol (03) 471 4800
Inspector Andrew Burns, Road Policing Manager (03) 471 4800