Footage adds impact to road safety campaign

What can happen when a truck driver is distracted by his mobile phone? What about when a light vehicle travels too fast while towing a trailer?

Police and their road safety partners have been determined to make it a safer summer on the roads. Efforts on the road have been supported by a concerted effort to promote road safety messages through social media.

Police have released a series of videos which provide a stark reminder of the consequences of poor decisions on the road.

You can watch the video playlists here:

• When it goes wrong on NZ roads - real CCTV footage

• Moments of truth on NZ roads - interviews with NZ Police officers

Collectively, these videos have attracted over 220,000 video views on facebook and youtube. There have been over 1500 comments as people dissect what happened and discuss actions drivers could have taken to prevent the crashes.

Superintendent Carey Griffiths, National Road Policing manager says "These CCTV roadside videos illustrate how quickly the banal can turn into tragedy when people take unecessary risks. We are thankful that nobody was killed in these crashes. This is definitely a miracle in some cases. We hope that these videos serve as a reminder to be vigilant at all times."

As we lead into Auckland Anniversary weekend, Police would like to reinforce that road safety is everybody's responsibility.

Carey adds "Holidays can be ruined when the basics go wrong. Pay attention, stay under the speed limit, watch your following distance, drive to the conditions, drive fresh and refrain from drinking before driving. Let's make this a summer to remember, not one to regret."

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