A top Otago policeman has hit out at the cavalier attitude of drivers after devastated police officers had to tell a 21-year-old's parents their son had died after another fatal crash on Otago's roads.
Thomas David William Corbett, of Owaka, died after his vehicle left the road about 6.35pm on Friday and hit a bank at the base of a ditch off Owaka Valley Rd.
• Police urge drivers to take extra care
Clutha-Taieri area response manager Senior Sergeant Al Dickie said the farm assistant was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash and speed appeared also to be a factor.
"It seems a number of rules had been broken leading up to the crash ... which are still under investigation, but the young lad paid the ultimate price - a very harsh penalty,'' he said.
The young man's "life was really just beginning'' and his death would have a "big flow-on effect'' for loved ones.
Extended family and friends drove past the scene shortly after the accident and recognised the car.
"The look of devastation in their eyes was plain to see,'' Snr Sgt Dickie said.
"Mum and Dad were having a relaxing lead-up to Christmas when police arrived and blew their world apart. Christmas just won't be the same with the massive void that has been created by some pretty basic rules being broken.''
Police interviewed witnesses during the weekend and a serious crash investigator had also examined the scene.
The death provided a stark reminder of danger people placed themselves in when road rules were not followed.
"Other people could have been involved; fortunately, on this occasion they weren't,'' Snr Sgt Dickie said.
"I can only hope young people learn from it and think about what's happened.
"It's a fine line - and it's a white line - between life and death. We have cars travelling at 100kmh and only that line separating them.
"Life's very fragile and I have seen it time and time again.
"We are getting complaints every day about people's driving. It's just a wonder there's not more crashes.''
The death came only days after a coroner called for an increased safety focus at known danger areas on Southern roads after the death of three tourists near Luggate last year and a string of near-misses on Southern roads recently.
The provisional road toll for 2015 is already 311, an 11% increase on last year with nine days still left in the year, and 23 people have died on New Zealand roads this month - well up on the nine who died last December.
A reduced speed tolerance on New Zealand roads is in place and any suggestion it was linked to police revenue gathering irked Snr Sgt Dickie.
"Forget about revenue-gathering. It's about trying to [prevent] these tragedies happening by education and enforcement,'' he said.
"The police work hard to try and intercept this behaviour be it speed, alcohol, cellphones or no seatbelts and, no doubt, save many from an early death.
"So next time you get a ticket ... put your brain into gear and think about that it might save your - or someone else's - life and also allow you a better chance to have a happy and safe Christmas.
"A funeral at Christmas time soaks the life out of what should be a happy and joyous occasion.''
Offences which appeared to be ‘‘nitpicking'', such as marginal speeding, cellphone use, not wearing a seatbelt and following too closely, "have the potential to kill'', he said.
"Remember, we see right through the death cycle and it's not pleasant.''
