By KEVIN TAYLOR
Hamilton drivers are among the worst in the country for failing to give way and stop, and police are calling for them to show more tolerance.
Land Transport Safety Authority figures show the city is over-represented in injury crashes caused by failing to give way or stop.
The average number of injury crashes from 1995 to 1999 in the main cities caused by drivers failing to stop or give way was 33 per cent.
But in Hamilton the rate was 40 per cent, ranking highest equal with Christchurch.
In the Auckland City Council area, the figure was only 28 per cent.
Waikato police spokesman Inspector Leo Tooman said intersection crashes were a big problem in Hamilton and drivers needed to show more tolerance.
Red-light running was also a problem and many drivers failed to obey stop signs.
Mr Tooman said Hamilton might be overrepresented in the statistics because the city had a high volume of through-traffic. Several busy state highways also converged on Hamilton, and large satellite towns near the city, such as Cambridge and Te Awamutu, added more traffic.
Many elderly drivers from smaller towns hated driving in Hamilton, he said. Some were easily confused by roundabout rules, and Hamilton drivers should show more tolerance for them as well.
LTSA regional manager Glenn Bunting said the statistics were a concern, but authority information would help address the problem. He did not know why Hamilton was overrepresented in the statistics.
"There would be a number of reasons for that increase. We have to find out why," he said.
"There could be engineering reasons, or enforcement issues."
Mr Tooman said red light and roundabout driver education campaigns had been run in Hamilton, and an intersection campaign was planned for early next year.
Insurance Council chief executive officer Chris Ryan said it was unlikely Hamilton or Christchurch would face higher premiums than the rest of New Zealand.
"It's a fairness issue. If premiums go up for people that will probably reflect the fact that a single person is having a high number of accidents rather than a whole region."
Mr Ryan said the statistics might reflect unfairly on the two cities because both had significant rural populations, which were prone to high-speed, high-injury crashes.
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