Tot dobs in dad during cops' speed crackdown

Freda Grace.

Police have stopped and ticketed several drivers speeding past Waikato schools this week - including a high school teacher and a father with his preschool-aged daughter in the back.

Road policing manager Inspector Freda Grace said speed and alcohol were focus areas for the region as the road toll had already reached 24, compared with 16 for the same period last year.

The teacher was going at 66km/h past a school in Cambridge and was issued with a ticket.

The father was stopped outside a Hamilton school and was travelling at 67km/h in a 40km/h zone.

His daughter, sitting in a car seat in the back, wound down her window.

"In a very polite voice, she pointed out to our officer, 'Excuse me Mr Policeman, my daddy always speeds','" Mrs Grace said.

"Unfortunately, there was no record kept of what dad said next but what comes out of the mouths of babes can often be such wisdom."

Other incidents included a driver travelling 91km/h outside a school in a 70km/h speed zone in Maramarua.

"We even had a woman travelling through a school zone on Tuesday afternoon travelling at a speed of 86km/h while on the way to the doctors," Mrs Grace said.

"Another driver passing Ohaupo Primary School on Tuesday told our officer he was distracted by his music, which is why his speed was 95km/h in a 70km/h zone."

Mrs Grace said some of the drivers' excuses for speeding outside schools tested her officers' patience.

"A real common excuse is 'it's not my car' - what relevance is that to the speed you're travelling past a school? "Another is [that] they were distracted.

"Drivers need to be aware that police are changing our tactics to try and make Waikato roads safer by encouraging drivers to ensure they are complying with the rules.

"What is good to see is that at the same time other motorists are less tolerant of speeding or drunk drivers, going by the number of driver complaint calls we are getting."

Waikato police also cracked down on drunk drivers this week.

Following a call from members of the public on Wednesday, police stopped a driver at the base of the Kaimai Ranges on State Highway 29 who returned a breath-alcohol result of 676 micrograms per litre of breath.

The legal alcohol limit for a fully licensed driver is 400mcg.

A driver was also stopped travelling at 100km/h in an 80km/h zone by Hamilton's Te Rapa dairy factory and returned a reading of 952mcg.

On Thursday night, 1655 cars were stopped by police in Hamilton; 50 drivers had been drinking, though none exceeded the legal limit.

Earlier in the day, a suspended driver stopped on the Waikato Expressway had his car impounded for travelling at 170km/h.