Stop or get dobbed in

Photo: FIONA GOODALL

SEEING RED: Pakuranga councillor David Collings and senior sergeant Mike Stopforth are encouraging the public to dob in red light runners.

If red light runners make you see red, dob them in.

After a successful month-long campaign last year the Manukau City Council has doubled the duration this year.

The campaign encourages the public to report red light running by phoning 0800 STOP 4 RED with details of the vehicle.

Warning letters will be sent to registered owners and repeat offenders will
be brought to police attention.

Last year 600 letters were sent to motorists who broke the law after members of the public dobbed them in.

The STOP 4 RED campaign started this week and will continue until the end of April.

Crashes involving red light runners in Counties Manukau have risen from 238 between 2003 and 2008 to 458 from 2004 to 2009. Of these 194 involved injury.

"Red light running is an epidemic. At nearly every phase of lights someone will take their chance," says road policing senior sergeant Mike Stopforth.

Mr Stopforth says police encourage drivers to phone in car details
without breaking the new law that prohibits cellphone use without a hands-free kit.

The STOP 4 RED phone number will be advertised at crossings to encourage pedestrians to note the
registration number and colour of cars running the lights.

Special pads to record the details are being handed out at shopping malls to encourage participation in the campaign.

"Last year it was such a success we still had people ringing in after the campaign had finished, so we decided to extend it because it is something that annoys everybody and causes a lot of crashes," says Mr Stopforth.

Council transport portfolio leader David Collings says witnessing dangerous driving behaviour "makes you feel helpless" but dobbing someone in is a way to do something about it.

Mr Collings hopes the campaign will be even more successful this year.

"It will be interesting to see if we get drivers repeat offending over the two months," he says.

"This really gets the police and council working together for this period and we can create a lot of interest," says Mr Stopforth.

"Any time during the year people can use the road watch reports which are available on the police website to report bad driving including red light running."

He says the eastern area has some of the most dangerous intersections in the city.

"We did a crash study a few years ago and just about every intersection on Ti Irirangi Drive was highlighted for crashes. A lot of it is to do with people travelling at quite high speeds through intersections."

Mr Stopforth says it is a step towards making people safer on the roads.

"When people realise they are being watched and their behaviour is not acceptable it makes them think twice about running red lights."

He says motorists have the wrong idea about what an orange light means.

"Orange means stop if it is safe to do so, it doesn’t mean speed up."

- © Fairfax NZ News