Random stopping planned

Press, 16 August 1984, Page 2

Random stopping planned

The Government plans to give road safety a high priority, the Minister of Transport, Mr Prebble, has told a. road traffic safety seminar in Wellington. He warned that there would be no magic formulae for road safety. What was needed was a strong commitment from the Government, Parliament and the public, to lowering the road toll. “It is my intention that random stopping will be in place before the critical Christmas period,” Mr Prebble said.

“I am asking for public support for this and for the officers who will carry it out.”

Traffic officers were road safety officers doing an essential and often dangerous task, he said, and they deserved the support of the public. Accompanying effective action had to be education; the message against drinking and driving had to be hammered home.

Up to August 12, some 425 road fatalities had been reported, compared with 369 for the same period last

year (an increase of 15 per cent), Mr Prebble said. From these figures had emerged some disturbing trends. A 92 per cent increase in fatalities involving cyclists, a 57 per cent increase in pedestrian fatalities, and an increase of more than 15 per cent in motor-cycle fatalities had occurred.

Parliament had passed some of the world’s toughest drinking-driving laws. These had been upheld by the Court of Appeal, and the judges had - said random stopping was lawful.