While the weather system contributing to freezing fog and low clouds has since moved on, the possibility of colder temperatures next week meant police would remain focused on educating drivers on behaviours such as turning on lights in times of low visibility, she said.
"It doesn’t cost you a power bill to turn your lights on."
"Hopefully with that inversion, let’s hope that it’s gone. But if it comes back it’s just more around giving yourself an advantage."
She added that in the wake of the death of a person on a bike earlier this month, police would also be on the lookout for those riding without a helmet.
Hiroto Shimura, a 25-year-old tourist from Japan, died after colliding with a motorist who had been making a left-hand turn into Plantation Rd on Saturday, July 6.
Police also continued Operation Hannah this week, a multi-site, multi-unit job targeting vehicles in and around ski fields including passenger services vehicles (PSVs).
Snr Sgt Roberts said 1500 vehicles were put through checkpoints, "very consistent numbers" to the previous week.
While no driver passing through the checkpoints was pulled up for drink-driving, the same could not be said for Wānaka township, where three motorists were caught between the 250 and 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath range.
Shortly after 2am on Saturday morning, police encountered a 24-year-old woman driving 70km/h down the wrong side of Lismore St.
The individual was breathalysed with a reading of 337 mcg, resulting in an immediate infringement, but was also charged with speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road.
A smashed storefront at Wānaka’s Racer’s Edge on Sunday morning was not the result of an attempted burglary but rather a case of intoxication, said Snr Sgt Roberts.
She said the individual involved had been attended to by police, and was lucky to have not sustained serious injuries from the incident.
"So nothing was nefarious there, just stupidity."
The Wānaka police station continues to see a steady flow of lost property, thanks in part to an arrangement with Treble Cone and Cardrona ski fields to accept items left up the mountains.
"So if people are looking for stuff, we’re not a bad source to find it."
She said reception staff also wished to remind people the station had an after hours drop box, allowing people to hand in smaller items of lost property at any time of the day.
