Two men killed on Canterbury roads

Press, 26 December 1986, Page 1

Two men killed on Canterbury roads

Two men were killed in separate road accidents in Canterbury yesterday.

One Christchurch man was killed when he lost control of the motor-cycle he was riding and left the road near Teddington soon after midday yesterday. He was Leslie Bird, aged 20. The police are keen to talk to anyone who saw the accident and want to get in touch with the driver of a yellow van travelling on the road at the time. Earlier, a cyclist was killed in a collision with a car in Main South Road, Riccarton, about 12.50 a.m. '

His name was not available last evening. Christchurch traffic officers reported a generally quiet time on the roads yesterday. They attended eight injury accidents.

Checkpoints on. Christmas Eve stopped 1555 drivers. Twelve had tests for excess alcohol. Mobile patrols netted 20 drivers who had tests.

More than 20,000 vehicles have been stopped at checkpoints in Christchurch Since the blitz began on December 12.

Traffic Sergeant Les McKay said that the offence rate had fallen from 3.5 per cent of drivers tested at the beginning of the campaign to 1.5 per cent. “It seems that people are finally getting the message,” he said.

Traffic officers are expecting roads to be busy today as people travel to holiday centres outside Christchurch. All available officers will be on duty and will concentrate checkpoints in holiday areas such as Akaroa.

Traffic Sergeant McKay said drivers travelling long distances should be patient and watch their

following distance, particularly behind caravans.

The Automobile Association (Canterbury) reports that many vehicles are unsafe because of poor maintenance by owners. Pre-holiday checks done on Saturday mornings recently showed potentially serious problems in many cars.

The association’s general manager, Mr John Strachan, said many drivers appeared to believe that if they ignored the problem it would go away. One car checked had a seat belt so badly frayed that it was useless. Many motorists queued for several hours for the checks and were likely to be more responsible than those who did not want their vehicles checked, said Mr Strachan. “It worries you to think about the state of vehicles people dare not bring.”