Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Police target drink drivers

John Cousins
By John Cousins
Senior reporter, Bay of Plenty Times·Bay of Plenty Times·
5 Jan, 2016 08:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Senior Sergeant Ian Campion urges people to give themselves plenty of time to get to and from their holiday destinations.

Senior Sergeant Ian Campion urges people to give themselves plenty of time to get to and from their holiday destinations.

High-profile police checkpoints targeting alcohol and drug-impaired drivers will continue to be a major focus in Tauranga this summer after 2015 ended with 18 people dying on Western Bay roads.

Hundreds of motorists were tested at two checkpoints leading into central Mount Maunganui on New Year's Eve as part of a huge police crackdown that saw at least 15 people arrested for drink-driving by 5am yesterday.

Western Bay police area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton said the arrests included a male driver clocked at 143km/h on State Highway 29A at Te Maunga. The man blew 741mcg of alcohol per litre of breath - almost three times the limit.

Bay of Plenty district road policing manager Inspector Brent Crowe said the focus for 2016 would be to keep fatal and serious crash statistics tracking in the right direction.

Ministry of Transport statistics showed that 29 people were killed on the region's roads in 2015, one fewer than the previous year but well up on deaths from 2011-13.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Nearly two-thirds of the Bay's 2015 road toll happened in the Western Bay, where the 18 deaths were two more than 2014.

Inspector Crowe said 2016 would see police continuing with the "safer journeys" campaign focusing on the big five causes of serious injury and death: Speeding, alcohol and drugs, people not wearing seatbelts, driver distraction and fatigue.

Speaking from a checkpoint at Te Teko in the Eastern Bay, yesterday, he said many more police checkpoints would be set up in and around Tauranga over the summer holidays.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Inspector Crowe said police were still seeing a lot of people using mobile phones. Another concern was slow drivers frustrating other road users which led to poor overtaking decisions.

Western Bay's road policing head Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said last week that almost all the area's road crashes were preventable. He urged people to give themselves plenty of time to get to and from their holiday destinations and to take sufficient rest breaks.

"Drivers also need to reduce their speed, particularly in wet weather, and focus solely on their driving and not what is going on inside the car."

Associate Transport Minister Craig Foss said it was incredibly sad to see that 293 people lost their lives on New Zealand roads in 2015, saying every death represented not only a lost life but grieving families, friends and communities. He noted that the road toll had dropped by 36 per cent between 2000 and 2014.

Discover more

Inquiry into fatal crash continues

30 Dec 02:28 AM

Bay crash brings power lines down

02 Jan 09:54 PM

Car rolls down bank in Hairini

02 Jan 10:50 PM

The Bay's 29 deaths meant the region had the fourth highest road toll in 2015, behind the Waikato (70 deaths), Auckland (52) and Canterbury (46).

Breakdown of fatalities on New Zealand roads in 2015:

* Drivers 159
* Passengers 75
* Motorcycle riders 48
* Motorcycle pillions 5
* Pedestrians 26
* Cyclists 6
* Other 2

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Serious injuries': Crash closes highway

11 Jul 05:30 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Hardly surviving': Sales fall after dairy raid

11 Jul 03:29 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Serious injuries': Crash closes highway

'Serious injuries': Crash closes highway

11 Jul 05:30 AM

Emergency services are responding to a two-vehicle crash which has closed SH29.

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM
'Hardly surviving': Sales fall after dairy raid

'Hardly surviving': Sales fall after dairy raid

11 Jul 03:29 AM
Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

11 Jul 03:01 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP