Police Disappointed with Driver Speeds in Heavy Fog

Police charged two drivers with driving at a dangerous speed on State Highway 1, Selwyn near Christchurch on Friday morning (06 August 2010).

The driver's vehicle speeds were checked at 124 km/h and 133 km/h in very heavy fog conditions, where visibility was down to only a few meters only.

One speeding driver who failed to stop for Police turned his headlights off and increased his speed even further when requested to pull over. It was considered too unsafe to pursue this driver.

"Any vehicle traveling at over 100kmph in heavy fog conditions with no visibility, is considered potentially dangerous" said Acting Senior Sergeant John Hamilton of the Canterbury Highway Patrol. If convicted of Dangerous Driving they face a minimum of 6 months disqualification.

"Drivers need to drive to the conditions, and not automatically drive to the maximum speed limit." One of the drivers charged said that he was trying to make up time because the slower vehicles had slowed him down.

Regardless of what other traffic is doing around you, Canterbury Police remind motorists that it is their responsibility to ensure that they are driving safely for the conditions.

"If you can barely see anything ahead of your own car due to the fog, then that's a strong clue to slow down, so you have time to stop for the unexpected," says Acting Senior Sergeant Hamilton.

Police will continue to actively police drivers not driving to the conditions this winter.