Police say they do not have a speed buffer convention allowing for minor speeding violations, re-iterating today they have a zero-tolerance approach all year round.
National road policing manager and acting Superintendent Gini Welch told 1 NEWS any motorist going over the speed limit at any time of the year could now be pulled over and potentially fined.
It was previously understood police could exercise discretion for speeders who were going up to 10km/h over the posted speed limit, except on zero-tolerance long weekends.
But, Superintendent Welch said it was the police's role to enforce the law.
“The speed limit is law and we enforce it. Our policy on this has not changed,” she said.
“If you travel above the posted speed limit, you can expect to be stopped and subjected to intervention such as engagement, education and enforcement.
“By and large the public expect us to do our job, and the job is if people are exceeding the speed limit, we do something about it.”
Road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson told Stuff a zero-tolerance approach was pointless.
“The current police anti-speeding campaign will never lower the road toll, because it’s targeting the average motorist rather than the high-risk groups.“That's like trying to stop bank robberies by targeting shoplifting."
It was also hard to maintain steady speeds in modern cars, Mr Matthew-Wilson said.
“As soon as you take your foot off the accelerator, your speed drops right back,” he said.
“As soon as you accelerate, it’s very easy to be over the speed limit in seconds.
“Cruise control is supposed to maintain a constant speed, but our tests have shown that, when driving down steep hills, your vehicle can creep well over the speed limit, without the driver even noticing.”
He said Sweden’s approach, showing motorists what speed they were travelling at without issuing a ticket, was better.
But, Superintendent Welch said evidence showed targeting mean speed would help keep people safe on the road.
“There’s lots of evidence to suggest if you target that bracket of one to 10km/h above the posted speed limit, that [has] the greatest impact on reducing the mean speed across the region,” she told Stuff.
“If you reduce the average mean speed, that reduces crashes and the severity of those crashes.”
She said a reduction of speed from 110 to 100km/h would reduce the fatal crash risk by 30 per cent.
“This is why we are pretty unapologetic.”
Official Information Act data released to Stuff showed after Waikato road police took a no-tolerance approach, the number of speeding tickets given to drivers in the region greatly increased.
In 2019, there were 30 officer-issued speeding tickets which fell within the one to 10km/h above the posted speed limit. From January 1 to July 31, 2020, it increased to 103.
According to police data provided to 1 NEWS, a total of 38,172 speeding tickets were issued by officers between January 1 to December 31 last year in the Waikato region. The area includes Hamilton City, Waikato East and Waikato West.
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