New Zealand had a Labour weekend road toll of zero, and at a police checkpoint in Lawrence the preceding Friday, only a handful of driving infringements were issued and nobody was over the alcohol limit.
"As well as fatigue and alcohol checks we wanted to kick off the busy season by handing out free water and jellybeans, and having a quick road-safety chat with a lot of the people heading over to central for Labour weekend," prevention Sergeant Tim Coudret said.
"A lot of families were were really pleased to see us there again ... We tested just over 250 people and of those just two had alcohol but both were under the legal limit."
Most of the infringements were for speeding, but one road user was pulled over for driving too slowly.
"A vehicle towing a caravan was pulled over for impeding traffic and just given a bit of a talk about driving to the conditions," Sgt Coudret said.
"There’s no real limit in terms of a lower speed. However, it is against the law to drive at an unreasonably slow speed. Keep checking your mirrors and if you’re driving in a manner that might cause others to get frustrated and maybe start taking unnecessary risks, you must pull over safely to the side of the road to allow queues of cars behind to pass."
"That driver was quite new to the experience and the area, and quite grateful for the advice. Over all we’re very pleased. There was a large amount of traffic and greater Clutha does have some high-risk hotspots.
"From now on, we’ll be highly visible on the roads."
