New booze van on our roads

BOOZE BROTHERS: The Eastern police district, including Tairawhiti, will be seeing more of this vehicle in future. The district's police have taken delivery of the first of two new mobile road safety bases, which will be used to detect drink drivers. Pictured with one of the units are (from left), Senior Constable Duane Coffin, Constables Steph Hellyer, Josh Watson and Brad Amataiti and Senior Constable Andy Clinton. Picture supplied

Eastern District police have taken delivery of a new mobile road safety base that will allow them to access more remote parts of the district to stop drink drivers and reduce trauma on the roads.

The six-metre-long VW Crafter van will be one of two that will be based in the Eastern District and part of a nationwide roll-out of 28 such vehicles.

The second should arrive later this month.

“The Eastern vans replace the 20-year-old ‘booze bus' which was bulky, hard to manoeuvre and required a driver with a Class 2 licence,” said Eastern District road policing manager Inspector Matt Broderick.

The old “booze bus” was a regular visitor to Tairawhiti and the new vans will continue this.

“The vans' manoeuvrability will mean staff can visit areas that were not as accessible with the old ‘booze bus'.

“Having these new vehicles out and about will mean our staff are mobile — anywhere, any place, any time,” Insp Broderick said.

“The important message remains — If you are going to drink, don't drive.

“Organise a sober driver to pick you up, or use public transport, taxi or Uber.”

The vans' upgraded interior provides new lighting, USB ports and a station for taking blood samples.

“The new mobile road safety bases are a much more user-friendly environment for our staff and drivers being processed out on the roads and in rural areas where the majority of the eastern district's fatalities occur.”

One of the new vans had already been used in Wairoa, with plans to visit a range of areas throughout the district in the future, Insp Broderick said.

“Making sure our roads are as safe as they possibly can be is something we are all passionate about and this is one of the tools we have to ensure this is the case.”

He expects the heavily branded vehicles will attract attention from the public and with police being visible on our roads and supported by other marketing campaigns, will encourage good driving behaviour.

“For the environmentally savvy, the Crafter is smaller, easier to maintain and park, and uses large batteries charged by mains power to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

“By identifying areas where a van can be used instead of a truck, fuel use can be reduced, along with the running cost and carbon footprint,” he said.

“It uses a modern, environmentally responsible process to monitor and charge auxiliary batteries through stop/start technology, eliminating the need for an external generator or for the vehicle to constantly idle while on the side of the road.”