End the traffic chaos demands city police chief

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Auckland City's police chief has demanded an urgent report on ways to avoid a repeat of the traffic havoc which paralysed thousands of commuters for hours on Monday.

But Detective Superintendent Gavin Jones, the acting commander, will not disclose details of a plan he assures motorists has been put in place for road crash investigations needed in the meantime.

After a debriefing attended yesterday by police headquarters representatives as well as key staff from the scene of Monday's fiery two-car smash, he said it was unacceptable that investigators close a major road for three and a half hours.

"We need to ensure our work practices have the highest integrity while endeavouring to keep the roads open and maintain traffic flows," he said in a statement on which he and other police are refusing to elaborate.

He has called on his second-in-command, Inspector Jim Wilson, to report to him by July 26 with recommendations on ways to hasten crash scene investigations.

The police have been under pressure from the Government and National because of the time the motorway on- and off-ramps at Fanshawe St were closed. Traffic was snarled more than 20km up State Highway 1 and on feeder roads.

Auckland Issues Minister Judith Tizard told the Herald last night that she and Transport Minister Pete Hodgson were "just about at the end of our tether" given that the Government set up highway patrols and provided new crash imaging equipment to avoid such holdups.

"Aucklanders want a good road system that works in a predictable way," she said. "While we all accept that accidents happen, it is not acceptable when the response compounds the problems they cause."

National's police spokesman, Tony Ryall, called earlier on the Government for a major review of accident-clearing protocols, accusing it of failing to grasp the number and impact of road blocks caused by crash investigations.

But Ms Tizard said the Government established the highway patrols after the Auckland Harbour Bridge was closed for five hours by police delays in marking out a truck crash the day before the 1999 election in which Labour swept to power.

"I was sitting at the Newmarket viaduct reading a hoarding saying 'Auckland is great - keep it National'."

Ms Tizard said the bridge closure followed a judge's stern rebuke of the police for sweeping away the wreckage of a Southland crash in which three young women died, before it could be properly investigated.

She said the Government had also put significant funding into improving traffic flows. It provided a new website on which motorists could view conditions on major Auckland routes before starting journeys.

There was confusion yesterday at the debriefing. Transit NZ regional manager Wayne McDonald said he was invited, but was asked by Inspector Dave Walker of the motorways police not to attend as it was to cover "internal police business".

This was despite the attendance of fire and ambulance staff.

North Shore Mayor George Wood, who criticised the police on Monday for the chaos caused to his constituents, welcomed the Auckland commander's quick response to concerns raised.

He challenged a claim on the day of the smash by Auckland police crash unit head Sandy Beckett that 3-D imaging equipment supplied by Transit NZ was not available to him, saying he had been assured by North Shore's police commander that it was.

Sergeant Beckett, who earlier told the Herald he did not in any case have enough faith in the accuracy of the equipment over standard surveying equipment, had no further comment yesterday.

But the police road safety manager, Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald, last night defended the accuracy of the equipment and said no concerns had been raised about it by any crash specialists.