Police Cars "Joyriding" On School Playing Fields. Video

As if the death and injury toll isn't already high enough on New Zealand's roads! This defies belief and makes a mockery of every road safety campaign ever made, in New Zealand or anywhere else for that matter. What sort of message is driving like this sending out to young people in New Zealand?


Someone who was at a fair at Target Road Primary, a decile 6 school in North Shore, Auckland made the above YouTube video of two police cars "careening" on the school playing fields giving rides to kids:

"New Zealand Police show the public how to drift, donut, endanger children and make a mockery of the govt's safety message"

There were no safety barriers erected and no indication of whether the drivers were even insured to "sell rides" (the money went to the school) on school property. The cars were racing around within feet of spectators and a bouncy castle. It's a far cry from traditional school fair activities and one has to question both the drivers' and the school's wisdom in allowing this type of fund raiser to occur on a school playing field in an urban environment.

Is it any wonder that figures obtained under the Official Information Act by the Dominion Post reveal that a staggering total of 734 police cars have crashed in the last year of which only 61 crashed whilst perusing another vehicle, 100 cars have been written off in the last 5 years yet only only 4 officers have received serious criminal convictions.

The final irony is that there is a particularly fast stretch of road outside the school and the speed limit is often rigorously enforced during school times. In 2006 the school's principal welcomed North Shore City Council's environment and infrastructure committee's approval of a speed limit of 40kmh within 250m of the school boundary. Flashing electronic road signs warning motorists to slow down are used within the zone, as well as static school zone signs.

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The day after this post was made a police car was involved in a fatal collision with 5 cars in the same borough see Police Car in Fatal Pile Up on North Shore.

In the year the video was filmed there were 366 deaths and 15,266 injuries (2560 serious and 12,706 minor injuries) on roads in New Zealand


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