Northland District Headquarters
88 Cameron Street, Whangarei
Wednesday July 9, 2014

While a majority of motorists drove carefully during last night's storm in Northland, some were still travelling too fast for the conditions.

Police attended six crashes during the storm. Three involved trucks being blown over by the strong wind.

Northland Road Policing Manager Inspector Murray Hodson says one of the concerns was drivers not slowing down in areas where stationary police patrol vehicles were operating flashing lights and hazards lights.

"These police vehicles were stationed on the road to indicate hazards ahead, such as large pot holes and flooding, and a few motorists ignored the warnings."

Mr Hodson says ignoring these warnings could lead to serious consequences.
"If you hit a large pothole or surface flooding you risk losing control of your vehicle and crashing."

"The roads during a storm like the one last night are dangerous and drivers need to be sensible and slow down, so they can deal with any unexpected hazards."

Mr Hodson says it is difficult to see during early daylight and early evening hours and a storm makes visibility worse.

He also urged motorists not to attempt to cross flooded roads.
"If you can't see the road markings and there is a huge amount of water across the road, don't drive into it thinking you'll be okay.

We had a couple of incidents where people were lucky to get out of their vehicles when they drove into flood waters. Two people at Kawakawa had to be rescued by police and a local resident."

ENDS

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