Pedestrians who see bad driving at crossings are urged to report it to police. Drivers general behaviour at crossings was getting better but there were still too many incidents, Sergeant George White said. Theres still some people who seem to think that they drive a car so they have the right to do what they damn well like and stuff pedestrians. All too often drivers dont stop for pedestrians at crossings, they drive too fast or they block the crossing - something thats particularly rampant in town. Liz Beck, spokeswoman for Lets Go, which encourages people to use public transport and get out of their cars, said it had fielded many complaints about driver behaviour on pedestrian crossings. It is a concern especially at the moment when were coming into summer and weve got so many more children walking and cycling to school. Cath Anderson-Carroll, of New Plymouth, who walks a loop in the Vogeltown and Welbourn areas several times a week, is tired of the near misses. The crossing she finds particularly problematic is the one on Carrington St near the intersection with Huatoki St. It makes me feel very insecure, she said. I think we should be able to use the road to go walking with our children. I think its incredibly dangerous. I also feel like the road users are king. They might stop or they dont stop or they continue driving. Theres no recognition. She doesnt step onto a crossing until she is sure the traffic will stop. A couple of times Ive stepped out with the buggy anticipating someone stopping and they get such a hell of a fright. They dont anticipate you being there. Ms Beck wanted to encourage people using the roads, including cyclists, to stop when they see people waiting at a zebra crossing. Mr White suggests when there are incidents people take down the offending vehicles number plate, when and where it happened and any details such as the colour of the car and distinguishing features. These details can then be logged in at police.govt.nz and a traffic complaint form filled out. A lot of people that do these complaints say they just want the driver of the car spoken to. Well go and speak to them, thats fine. If theyre happy for us to take enforcement action then well write a ticket out. Depending on the offence, the driver could get a ticket starting at $150 or up to 30 demerit points.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 19:41:59 +0000
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