Kia ora Wānaka.

We have kept ourselves busy at the Wānaka Police Station over the past couple of weeks.

We had an increase in numbers in our little town over the school holidays and with that, brought a number of poor driving incidents. We do our best to attend these as we want to make our roads safe. If you have a passenger in the car, please get them to take footage. This provides police good evidence should they contest or are unaware of what they were doing.

On the early hours of Sunday morning police stopped a vehicle on Mount Iron Drive. The female driver undertook initial breath test procedures and then refused to accompany officers back to the police vehicle/station. Her two female passengers decided to obstruct the process. The driver then resisted arrest and spat at a police officer and attempted to escape.

She was eventually processed and returned a positive breath result of 600mcg/L. She has been charged accordingly and the other two will join her in the coming days.

It is sad that the message is still not getting through in relation to drinking and driving. Five drivers that were processed had readings over the legal limit on the weekend. The results ranged from receiving a ticket in the mail and getting demerit points on your licence to receiving a summons to court and explaining your actions to the judge.

When we drive around at all hours, we still see garage doors wide open, unlocked vehicles or nice-looking items on display for sticky fingers to take. Save yourself the hassle and secure your property.

I’m sure for many the skis will be getting stored and the bike being dusted off. Whether you are hitting the trails or using your bike to commute please put your helmet on. The social cost is too high to pay for your rehab should you crash.

With school going back on Monday (October 9) we are putting out a reminder that when you come across a school bus all vehicles travelling in either direction, are required to travel at no more than 20km/h when passing a stationary school bus.

Keep an eye out for kids around the buses as they don’t always make good decisions and can pop up on you very quickly.

Stay safe out there Wānaka and have a great week.