Fleeing driver fatalities up

Police pursuit fatalities continue to climb despite senior road cops saying chases are now abandoned earlier at a far greater rate.

Figures released under the Official Information Act reveal 500 more people were convicted of failing to stop for police last year than five years earlier.

The data shows there were 12 fatal police pursuits in 2017 – more than in any of the previous five years, when there were between two and five fatal pursuits annually.

There have been a string of South Island pursuits, some fatal, in the past six months. Just last week, wanted Nelson man Andrew David Hunter was arrested after allegedly evading police for about 180 kilometres through Canterbury.

In March, known criminals Johnathan Tairakena and his passenger, Phillip Stretch, along with mother Carmen Marie Yanko, an innocent motorist, were killed after Tairakena crossed the centre line and collided head-on with Yanko’s vehicle during a pursuit south of Nelson. On Boxing Day, Christchurch’s Horton Hill, 80, and Oamaru man Matthew Gilchrist were killed in a high-speed crash on SH1 near Glenavy.

Toni Jarvis’ stepdaughter, 20-year-old Karleane Magon, was killed in a crash after a police pursuit in Christchurch in 2010. Yesterday, Jarvis said future motorists needed educating about the consequences of fleeing police.

‘‘If a school . . . rang me up and

said ‘Oh look we know about you losing your daughter and the police pursuit . . . could you come and talk’, I’d go gladly,’’ Jarvis said.

‘‘I’d go and speak to them and tell them the true consequences of making a stupid decision.’’

Magon was one of three people killed when the car she was in crashed in central Christchurch as the driver fled from police.

‘‘That kid was only 20 years old. I’m actually raising her wee girl – she’s turning 12 this year and I see the ongoing impact . . . a girl that misses her mum,’’ Jarvis said.

‘‘In no way do I bag police for doing their job . . . but they have a duty of care and a responsibility to protect and serve the community, and you’ve got to question the high numbers of people dying because they’re chasing down somebody in extreme circumstances.’’

The figures, released via the Fyi.org.nz website, show the number of people jailed for failing to stop leapt from 17 to 79 between 2012 and 2017.

Canterbury’s acting road policing manager, Senior Sergeant Kelly Larsen, said while the figures suggested an increase in fleeing driver incidents, police were electing to stop pursuing at a ‘‘far greater rate’’ than in the past.

‘‘Fleeing driver incidents are inherently dangerous for the person involved and other road users. We want to minimise that risk,’’ she said.

‘‘I know from a risk perspective police officers are self-abandoning the pursuits because they judge the risk to be too high.’’