Extra risk on our roads over winter
■ Safety on our community’s roads:
Leading into winter with the change in weather and daylight hours can bring extra risk factors for road users. Throughout the month of May police nationally will be focusing efforts on reducing harm on our roads with particular attention on restraints and distractions. Also of priority to police are speed and impairment. These are four of the major contributing factors of road injury.
Refraining from drink or drug use is important when planning to get behind the wheel. Throughout March and April there were 16 people processed for driving under the influence of alcohol in Tararua.
Restraints save lives. Using your restraint reduces your chances of death or serious injury in a crash by 60 per cent for front seat passengers and 44 per cent for backseat passengers.
Ensuring your focus is on the road and driving your vehicle when travelling will enhance your safety. The use of cellphones is a major distraction for drivers. A good practice to adopt to avoid the temptation of answering that call is to get in the habit of turning the cellphone off as you turn the car on.
■ Norsewood/Dannevirke/ Pongaroa:
On Saturday, April 28 there was a disorder incident outside a licensed premises in Dannevirke. A person has been arrested for damaging a patron’s vehicle.
■ Eketahuna/Pahiatua/ Woodville:
On April 25 Pahiatua police attended a disorder incident on Patterson St. One female was arrested for possession of an offensive weapon.
At 4.45pm on April 26 the Eketahuna Rugby Club was broken into. Police immediately attended and apprehended the offender in bushes nearby.
At 8.30pm April 27 Pahiatua Police attended a motor vehicle accident on the Pahiatua Track road. A ute flipped. There were five working dogs on the rear of the tray of the ute and three ran off from the scene but were located the following day.
Overnight April 29 an address in Pahiatua was broken into and a 4x4 quad bike stolen. The offenders drove the motorbike to the Ballance area where they ditched the vehicle.