Penalties for motorists fleeing police could become harsher following a spate of fatal pursuits, including two in Auckland at the weekend.
A woman died in hospital last night after being thrown from a car fleeing police in Manukau, south Auckland, in the afternoon. The woman was the 18th person to die this year following a police pursuit, the highest recorded annual total.
On Saturday, a 33-year-old man died after a short high-speed police chase in Mangere, south Auckland.
Prime Minister John Key said this afternoon increasing penalties for those that ran from police was one option that could be considered.
"We just need to send a very strong message to people that if you flee a police request to stop that is a very significant action and serious repercussions will result if you fail to stop."
The charge of failing to stop is usually applied with more substantive charges, and is usually punished with a fine. Although judges can give a maximum penalty of $10,000, fines of between $100 and $200 are most common.
Mr Key said there was an option of introducing a penalty that involved the car used in the getaway, although as a number of the vehicles were stolen in such instances that could be difficult.
Earlier today, the Green Party called for police to only pursue for serious offences, saying reducing the number of chases was likely to save lives.
However, Police Minister Judith Collins said police could not ignore people breaking the law. Dropping pursuits would mean later arrests might not result in successful prosecutions, as offenders would argue someone else was driving.
"I think what we are saying is that if we force the police not to enforce the law - if we tell them not to do it then we would have more of this sort of behaviour."
Police policy had been reviewed six times after pursuit crashes but the problem was drivers not stopping, she said.
"Please don't run, if you do run what will happen is you will put yourself at risk, you will put others at risk and you will put police at risk."
