Bad driver reports run hot

Complaints about poor driving have gone into triple digits as holidaymakers hit the roads.

Since Christmas Eve, Waikato police have been receiving more than 100 driving complaint calls per day, via the *555 number, Senior Sergeant Mike Henwood said.

Usually there are about 60. People call the number to report nonurgent cases of poor driving such as erratic driving, dangerous overtaking, suspected drunk driving and traffic congestion. A Mercedes driver who tailgated an off-duty cop on a summer break is one of many to raise the ire of holiday motorists.

Constable Peter Van’t Wout had enjoyed a day off in Mt Maunganui on Wednesday and was cruising home on State Highway 29 ‘‘listening to the fine tunes of Six60 with my arm out the window’’.

He had passed the Matamata turnoff and settled in behind a slower vehicle when a silver Mercedes shot up behind him and started tailgating.

‘‘By tailgating I mean l can’t even see his number plate in my rear vision mirror,’’ Van’t Wout’s post to the Waikato Police Facebook page said.

Even when the slower car turned off and Van’t Wout sped up to 100kmh, the Mercedes stayed close – occasionally backing off and surging forward again.

‘‘We turn right on SH1 and the moment he gets to the passing lane he’s gone, and flies past 10-12 vehicles (at a guess probably doing 130-140). I can see him in the distance; sure enough tailgating as the passing lane ends.’’

Van’t Wout decided the driver needed speaking to so rang 111 using hands free and was told the vehicle was a ‘‘road safety target’’ that had collected several complaints through the year.

After Van’t Wout gave a few updates to a colleague who was working, and the car was clocked at 130kmh, the driver was pulled over and ticketed for tailgating and speeding.

‘‘Moral of the story,’’ Van’t Wout wrote, ‘‘the next vehicle you are following could be an off-duty police officer. We’re never on holiday.’’

Complaints about bad driving on Waikato roads have jumped about 50 per cent, Henwood said.

On a Wednesday last month, there were 60 calls over the whole day, which is typical for a weekday, Henwood said. By 4.30pm Wednesday there had already been 68 reports of bad driving as people fled their homes for the New Year break.

On the plus side, more people are on the roads to witness and report inconsiderate or dangerous driving, Henwood said.

‘‘Be patient but also make sure you report bad driving to the police through star 555.’’