The Star: July 06, 2017
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi<br />
Thursday <strong>July</strong> 6 <strong>2017</strong> 19<br />
straight and narrow with a licence<br />
Senior Constable MacKenzie<br />
said a lot of them say they would<br />
rather get pulled over without a<br />
licence, than sit the test and risk<br />
failing.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y get caught, then they get<br />
disqualified, and they caught,<br />
and they get disqualified again<br />
and it just snowballs,” Senior<br />
Constable Pewhairangi said.<br />
She has only just passed her<br />
physical competency test allowing<br />
her to go back to front line<br />
work after having her spine fused<br />
last year.<br />
Part of the cause was a<br />
motorcycle crash she had while<br />
riding to work along Manchester<br />
St in 2011. A woman driving in<br />
the opposite direction didn’t see<br />
her and turned in front of her<br />
into Gloucester St, causing the<br />
crash.<br />
<strong>The</strong> driver was on her restricted<br />
licence, with the proviso she was<br />
supervised while driving.<br />
She wasn’t.<br />
Senior Constable Pewhairangi<br />
said police were thinking differently<br />
– they were providing the<br />
ambulance at the top of the cliff,<br />
rather than at the bottom.<br />
“She could have killed herself.<br />
It could have had worse consequences.<br />
If we can stop that<br />
PREVENTION: <strong>The</strong> road policing team is trying to help people<br />
become better drivers to prevent crashes, like this one in<br />
Hornby, from happening.<br />
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN<br />
happening I think that’s what we<br />
need to focus on.”<br />
She is about to start a five-week<br />
programme to help people gain<br />
their learner licence.<br />
Next week, the first of three<br />
courses will start, which sees<br />
mentors help participants learn<br />
the road rules, and prepare them<br />
for their test.<br />
It is similar to the Community<br />
Driver Mentor Programme, a<br />
collaboration between New Zealand<br />
Transport Agency, AA, Salvation<br />
Army and police, helping<br />
people aged 16-24 progress from<br />
their learner licence through to<br />
their restricted.<br />
Senior Constable Pewhairangi<br />
said helping people gain their<br />
Young drivers at fault<br />
causing Canterbury crashes<br />
between<br />
2012-2016<br />
Never licensed: Four fatal, 14<br />
serious injury, 63 minor injury<br />
Learner: Three fatal, 40<br />
serious injury, 212 minor injury<br />
Restricted: Three fatal, 96<br />
serious injury, 392 minor<br />
injury<br />
Disqualified: One fatal, 13<br />
serious injury, 23 minor injury<br />
licence meant they could get<br />
employment, stopping them from<br />
going on the benefit.<br />
That could have spin-offs in<br />
other areas, such as domestic<br />
violence, she said.<br />
Youth drivers were a particular<br />
focus for police.<br />
Police data shows between<br />
2012-2016, of the young drivers<br />
who caused accidents in Canterbury,<br />
81 did not have a licence.<br />
Speed and alcohol were both<br />
“over represented” as contributing<br />
factors.<br />
A lot of those happened between<br />
midnight and 3am.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were 255 crashes caused<br />
by drivers on their learners –<br />
speed and alcohol often a factor<br />
– and 491 on their restricted.<br />
Thirty-seven crashes were<br />
caused by disqualified drivers.<br />
In more than half, alcohol was a<br />
contributing factor.<br />
Another programme Senior<br />
Constable Pewhairangi runs is<br />
the driving while forbidden compliance<br />
scheme.<br />
If someone without a licence –<br />
say theirs has expired – is pulled<br />
over, police give them 28 days to<br />
become compliant. Of those, 42<br />
per cent actually do.<br />
Nearly 1000 forbidden drivers are<br />
caught in Canterbury each year.<br />
Both Senior Constable Mac-<br />
Kenzie and Senior Constable<br />
Pewhairangi said they joined the<br />
police because they wanted to<br />
help people.<br />
And in spite of what many<br />
people thought, they didn’t enjoy<br />
giving out tickets.<br />
“I stopped one last week, no<br />
registration, no warrant, learner<br />
driver, carrying unauthorised<br />
passengers, the car seat in the<br />
back I didn’t even want to look<br />
at with the wee baby, no L plates,<br />
no driver’s licence. <strong>The</strong>re’s seven.<br />
Where do you start? Where do<br />
you stop?” Senior Constable Mac-<br />
Kenzie said.<br />
She issued the woman with two<br />
tickets and walked away “feeling<br />
rubbish.”<br />
But she knew it had to be done.<br />
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