A former Minister for Transport Safety has backed a call to limit police chases to extreme emergencies.
Harry Duynhoven, who was Minister for Transport Safety under the Helen Clark government and is now mayor of New Plymouth, says:
“A simple change of legislation would strongly discourage many dangerous high speed chases.”
Duynhoven believes that the police should have the power to permanently seize any privately owned vehicle used to flee from the police, provided that it isn’t stolen.
A leading road safety campaigner has called for a ban on police car chases, except in ‘extreme emergencies’.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, was commenting after a police chase in South Auckland, in which the fleeing car collided with an innocent motorist. The motorist’s car was written off and the driver injured.
Electronic distractions are becoming a major road safety hazard, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Dogandlemon.com editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, who is an active road safety campaigner, says:
“There is now a global, multi-billion dollar industry selling electronic devices that distract the user. Globally, these devices are causing thousands of serious road accidents every day.”
It's time for the government to stop propping up the Australian car assembly industry, says the car review website, dogandlemon.com.
Dogandlemon.com editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:
The New Zealand government has finally recognised that safer cars and roads are the key to improving road safety, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Commenting on the government’s ‘Safer Roads’ plan, editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:
“The saddest thing about the government’s ‘Safer Roads’ document is that it’s about fifteen years late. Most of these proposals to improve the safety of cars and roads were proposed by me ten to fifteen years ago, and I was widely attacked for proposing them.
Changes to the vehicle WOF system will result in more road deaths, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Massive trucks may soon be cruising the country’s roads without having had an independent safety inspection, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Dogandlemon.com editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says the government’s WOF changes are part of a larger plan to let commercial vehicle fleet operators issue their own in-house safety certificates.
Cyclists need to be protected from other traffic, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:
“Cyclists are among the most vulnerable road users. Every single one of my friends who cycle regularly has had a potentially-fatal clash with a motor vehicle.”
“The only real way to protect cyclists from these clashes is to separate them from motorists. Cycle lanes are a good start, but ultimately, there needs to be a physical barrier between cyclists and motor vehicles, so the two can’t collide.”
Motorists should prepare for sharp rises and falls in the price of fuel, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:
“Every time there’s economic bad news, the oil price will generally drop, due to reduced demand. Every time there’s an interruption to oil supply, the price will generally rise sharply. Of course, this process has been going on for years, but the current global situation is likely to trigger extremes in oil prices over the next few years.”
The traditional car yard will soon be extinct, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says the internet has made conventional car yards unnecessary, and there are even bigger changes to come.
"Until recently, cars were often supplied to car yards by vehicle wholesalers, However, in an online world, the small car yard is largely irrelevant. The wholesaler can simply sell direct to the final customer without involving the car yard at all.”