Slow down in rural towns

Slow down in rural towns is the message from Canterbury Police after Queens Birthday weekend!

Over the weekend the Canterbury Highway Patrol and local officers mounted an operation in the small rural town of Culverden on State Highway 7.

It was carried out as a result of the danger posed to pedestrians crossing the road to cafés and shops in the town.

The town has a 50 km/h speedlimit

'Some motorists didn't get the message the first time they were stopped for speeding. At least one driver was stopped and fined on the way north to Hanmer from Christchurch, and then was stopped again on the return journey through Culverden' said Inspector Derek Erasmus.

Highway Patrol staff spent several hours stopping vehicles for speed at various times over the three days, fining a total of 115 drivers for exceeding the speed limit through the town.

'While traffic should have been travelling at 50 km/h, we routinely stopped drivers travelling in the 70s and 80s'

'When a pedestrian is hit by a car doing more than 50 km/h, their chances of survival are greatly reduced. This is even worse for a child' Mr Erasmus said.

Local residents often complain about the speed of traffic travelling through Culverden, They were happy with the resulting enforcement, despite a number of locals also being caught.

Elsewhere in Canterbury, Traffic was reasonably well behaved. As of Monday evening traffic was flowing smoothly back into Christchurch, despite it being heavy.