Bryan Ward - Over the holidays: ZERO TOLERANCE

For the first time ever, Police will be enforcing a reduced speed threshold of 4km/h for a two month period from 1 December 2013 to 31 January 2014. This means there will be no holiday for those who choose to speed, drink too much or drive unsafely, as our more than 8000 police officers will have no tolerance for speeding or other risky behaviour.

While most kiwis live-it-up in December and January, far too many never make it home. Still more face a lifetime of debilitating injury. Summer is a risky season on our roads and it's even more dangerous when people drive too fast.

For the same two month period in 2012/2013, there were 416 serious injuries on our roads, including 57 deaths.The number of lives lost and broken through trauma on our roads is unacceptably high. Targeting those who put others at risk by speeding is the most effective way police can help bring it down. But we need all road users to do their bit too.  

A great example is Queen's Birthday weekend. When police combined high visibility on our roads with a reduced speed tolerance in 2010 and 2011, the total number of fatality/injury crashes reduced by 25% compared with the previous two years - that's an average of 30 people who continued to live out and fulfil their dreams each year. Any one of those people could be a neighbour, a friend or someone in your family.

Drink-driving remains a major cause of road crashes, and the second-largest cause of death and injuries on our roads. Alcohol misuse is also a key aggravator in numerous other offences. Police will be stopping and testing as many drivers as we can this summer. If you're stopped, you can expect to be tested - anywhere, anytime.

Police can't do it alone. Families, friends and whanau need to step up and play their part. Stop a mate driving drunk - legend.