Volunteers firefighters from Kaitaia managed to put the cow into a yard.
The man was treated in an ambulance on the side of the road then taken to Kaitaia Hospital as a precaution.
Northland police numbers were bolstered by a Traffic Alcohol Group from Auckland as well as an officer on a motorbike.
There were 93 checkpoints held across the region but yesterday there were no results available from police about the number of drink drivers nabbed.
Northland Road Policing Manager Inspector Murray Hodson said police received 102 *555 calls and attended more than 50 per cent of those calls.
Motorists were dobbing in others for a variety of offences including speeding or cutting in and out of traffic when overtaking.
Mr Hodson was pleased to see the public was reporting poor driver behaviour and it meant police could deal with a situation before someone was hurt or killed.
"Many of the calls were received at least five to 10 minutes after the offence occurred and this also made it difficult to turn around and apprehend due to large volumes of traffic.
"The more serious ones were assigned to officers for immediate follow up," Mr Hodson said.
He said overall the motoring public was well behaved in what was a very busy weekend on the road.
"They showed patience and understanding when travelling in high volumes of traffic."
The 4km/h tolerance is in place until 6am next Monday to cover an extended holiday period that includes Anzac Day.
