Police are pleading with motorists in Northland to lay off the booze, ease off the accelerator and belt up ahead of the Queen's Birthday weekend.
Historically, the most common causes of car crashes during the three-day weekend are alcohol impairment, driving too fast for the conditions, poor handling, poor observation,
failure to wear safety belts and failing to give way or stop.
The weather forecast in Northland for the long weekend is for showers, so police were anticipating wet roads were likely to be a problem.
Northland's road police manager, Inspector Murray Hodson, said if the roads were wet then drivers needed to increase their following distances, reduce their speed and avoid braking heavily on corners.
"Take a stop every two hours or change drivers if possible to avoid fatigue," he said.
