Most drivers are getting the message

"The majority of New Zealand drivers have taken messages around driving to the conditions and the hazards of speed, drink driving and safety belts to heart," says NZ Police National Road Policing Manager, Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald.

"Speeds are down and the traffic across the whole network is noticeably calmer," he said.
Speed camera tickets are down and in turn the road toll is the second lowest ever.

The provisional 2004 road toll stands at 435 deaths compared with 461 in 2003. 26 fewer deaths on the roads than last year in the face of increased traffic growth associated with economic growth.

Police appreciate that the vast majority of drivers now stick to the speed limit, and drive to the conditions. The vast majority do wear their safety belts, always drive sober and are courteous, considerate and safe.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>