Mayors Are Police's Patsys Over Racers

The crisis meeting of the Mayors over boy racers in Christchurch suggests Councils must have a poor grasp of road safety, as boy racers are not a significant factor in the burgeoning road death and injury toll.

Above limit speed is only involved in 18% of fatal crashes, which have increased 10% this past year to date on the prior year to date. This is in opposition to the "speed kills" theory as the reduction in average speeds should have reduced crashes.

The Mayors have been led by Police like the Pied Piper to focus upon the Polices pet toll issues, which are not per good evidence actually the main issues (able to be addressed) which can make a difference.

Apparently the meeting concerned itself with alcohol and with speed - the main prongs of the so called "greatest enforceable risks" which are current issues of road safety emphasis in Government policy due to the ability to "enforce".

"Enforce" is Treasury speak for "raise revenue" sufficient to pay the road polices wages, gas costs and sundry expenses.

The Greatest Enforceable Risk policy which was confirmed by LTNZ correspondence to the Akilla drowsy driving Campaign dictates that all major publicity and effort in road safety to receives Government support must go the "greatest enforceable risks" as selected by Police.

Regardless whether they are the main or even significant risks.

The Mayors should consider while being led by their nose to focus upon the laws around speeding that they are now more severe than the laws around impaired driving, and nothing further can be done in the speed area.

Drink driving is Policed Down Under more heavily than anywhere else in the world via checkpoints, and Police have an excellent apprehension rate.

Boy racers claim they are not of that ilk regardless, as they presumably know the Cops are never far away.

So the discussion points of the meeting appear to be dead ends if toll reduction is actually the issue.

If noise is actually the main issue mobilising the Mayors to have a crisis meeting in reaction to one death that is uncharacteristic (of toll deaths), then Candor would like to see the Mayors would pay equal attention to the current crisis in road safety.

The issues are well known to those working in the road safety and transport arenas.

1) The licensing age is indecently young, putting NZ into the category of the backwater types of places that allow children adult rights. Very young marriage ages in some U.S. States spring to mind as an equivalently bizarre policy.

2) Failure to Police drug driving or to educate about drug driving. This risky behaviour is undertaken by 90,000 Kiwis as a way around checkpoints. Which is reflected in around half of NZ's crash dead having intoxicant drugs aboard.

Drugs are well evidenced to be a greater contributor to the youth toll than alcohol, which is unsurprising as only one in nine thousand drug drivers is convicted of this in NZ yearly.

192 Police trained in drug driving detection are a wasted resource currently.

If we are interested in reducing the youth toll then Mayors must stop being led up the garden path by Police to focus upon speed and drink.

It is ridiculous to suggest that the drug culture which has been allowed to grow like a mushroom inthe dark on our roads is not adding to boy racer bravado.

The ESR Police study has shown that risk drugs are far more common than alcohol in dead drivers, marijuana is sure to have a place in boy racing circles and to be reducing their skills (a fact smokers are generally unaware of).

A Waikato University study of 2005 has shown that apart from significant numbers displaying sole drug use, out of the excessive 15-19 year olds who decease on our roads with some blood alcohol content 47% have also used cannabis.

Candor supports Ron Marks calls for a review of driving laws as they relate to road safety, as currently there are many iniquities.

Some aspects are overstressed, while other important ones like drug driving harm and drowsy driving (both far greater issues than speed) are deliberately ignored.

"The authorities cetainly do have blood on their hands, it is not appropriate for the Police to call all the shots in road safety"

Road safety is a Public Health matter requiring evidence based practice not hysterical reactionary moves by disorganised stake holders.

Ones apparently all filled up with LTNZ propaganda about what the issues are. Based upon a heirarchy of "enforcement" ie ticketing priorities.

Approximately 75% of penalties for drink diving are court fines and we are seeing the effect of that. Increased revenue from speeding and speed traps by schools have also seen our road toll increase.

The Trust would like to see the Government refering back to its 'Safe As' consultation findings again, holding urgent follow up meetings in main centres to look at penalties for better road safety outcomes rather than fundraising ones. And hurrying up with getting the proposed new drug driving laws in place.

ENDS

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