TOP STORY: They're speeding on streets where we live

By JOHN COUSINS
Mindless motorists have been hurtling along one in five Tauranga streets with some being clocked doing nearly 70kmh.
Now council bosses say new-look speed humps may be the answer to slamming the brakes on speedsters, whose reckless behaviour has spread fear that someone will be killed.
Some 250 streets have been identified by Tauranga City Council speed surveys as having a problem with people driving too fast.
Topping the list was Ohauiti's Windermere Drive, where 15 per cent of drivers exceeded 69kmh. Excessive speeds along the rest of the city's problem streets started at 57kmh on Matua's Manuwai Drive.
All the streets have a legal limit of 50kmh.
Council traffic engineer Wayne Thompson said he was excited about the potential of "speed cushions" being successfully trialled in Hamilton.
Speed cushions were a truck and bus-friendly version of speed humps - essentially humps indented to accommodate the wide wheelbases of heavy vehicles.
These modified humps were expected to lead to a greater community acceptance of the devices as a means to slow traffic. Buses and trucks could negotiate them without nearly grinding to a halt, reducing objections to humps from commercial operators and residents anxious about engine noise.
Mr Thompson expected speed cushions would make it easier for neighbourhoods to reach a consensus on the introduction of humps.
Consultation by the council often saw speed hump proposals defeated by residents concerned about the noise of engines accelerating and de-accelerating - including souped-up cars.
Mr Thompson said the council worked with police to patrol streets with the worst speedsters. Sometimes it was only one or two flats causing problems, he said.
A steadily growing number of streets are being added to the list with problems. Surveys were often initiated by complaints.
But it was not just 50kmh limit streets that were being targeted. The semi-rural 70kmh section of Kaitemako Rd at Welcome Bay had the worst speed problem for roads with 60-80kmh speed limits. Fifteen per cent of drivers exceeded 91kmh.
Police traffic Sergeant Lester Polglase said Kaitemako Rd was frequently targeted by police, and Wednesday had been a particularly successful evening's work. "The speeds they go down there are just so silly. It is only a matter of time until someone is hurt."
Speeds of 80kmh were being reached on Kaitemako Rd's 50kmh zone, he said.
On Wednesday night he clocked a car doing 92kmh on Ohauiti Rd's 50kmh zone - leading to an instant 28-day loss of licence for a man running late for an appointment.
"We are out and about doing most streets but we have our favourites where speeds are that much higher ... the object is to reduce crash trauma."
Mr Polglase said most people booked for traffic offences were nice normal people who got complacent and needed a wake-up call to change their behaviour.
Tauranga's 10 worst residential streets (where 15 per cent of drivers exceed the following speeds) are: Windermere Drive, Poike: 69kmh; Victory St, Welcome Bay: 68kmh; Churchill Rd, Judea: 65kmh; Dickson Rd, Papamoa: 65kmh; Grace Rd, The Avenues: 64kmh; Gravatt Rd, Papamoa: 63kmh; Te Hono St, Maungatapu: 64kmh; 14th Ave: 64kmh; Edgecumbe Rd, The Avenues: 63kmh; Darraghs Rd, Otumoetai: 62kmh.