Police and transport chiefs meet over road deaths

With the road toll standing at 23 just two weeks into 2006, police and transport officials are today meeting in an effort to stem fatal crashes.

Five people were killed on New Zealand roads this weekend, taking the national toll to 23, compared with 11 at the same time last year.

The meeting with Transport Ministry and Land Transport officials will consider measures to stem fatal crashes, national road policing manager Dave Cliff said.

Proposed initiatives include demerit points for motorists who run red lights, stricter penalties for learner and restricted driver breaches and toughening up speed enforcement by issuing more tickets.

Mr Cliff said police would step up enforcement because driving behaviour had to change. Overseas studies showed tough enforcement led to a lower road toll, the Dominion Post reported today.

"The act of ticketing people actually helps save lives," he said.

"We have to change behaviour. People decide if they are going to get a ticket. They decide not to wear a seatbelt, they decide to travel too fast, they decide to drink-drive, not to stop for red traffic lights."

Recidivist drink-drivers will face a new "three strikes and you're out law" from today, where their cars will be taken from them for a third offence within four years.

The change comes as part of new provisions under the Land Transport Amendment Act and means if drink-drivers are caught a third time within four years, their cars will automatically be taken from them for 28 days until they pay all costs.

Even then, they will be unlikely to be back in their cars in a hurry, with a long driving ban likely at that point, Land Transport New Zealand (LTNZ) spokesman Andy Knackstedt said last week.

Ministry of Transport figures show that in 2004, drink-driving contributed to 133 deaths, 497 serious injuries and 1401 minor injuries on the roads, and figured in 30 per cent of all road crashes.

Speedsters clocked at 40km/h above the speed limit will have their licences instantly suspended.

The Government has given road authorities until 2010 to get the road toll down to 300. It reached 404 last year, the lowest since 1963, when 394 deaths were recorded.

- NZPA