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00:00New Zealand's highways.
00:0211,000 kilometres of some of the most spectacular and unforgiving roads on the planet.
00:10Over a thousand dedicated road safety staff.
00:16Are tasked with keeping our highways and byways safe.
00:20It can be a bit scary being in a car crash so we thought we'd just give you a teddy.
00:23It's a job that brings its own perils.
00:27He lost his hat. She is wild.
00:30And rewards.
00:31I like the police here. They smell.
00:33Come to New Zealand. Stay famous.
00:35Stay safe on the road.
00:37This is Highway Cops.
00:41Tonight...
00:42Whoa, that's not normal.
00:45Loss of traction proves to be a slippery slope.
00:48I was just going to the little door ride.
00:50You can tell I'm from Hamilton, eh?
00:51Crash after crash after crash.
00:54I guess I did. I don't really remember.
00:57And pest control on the roads in Te Waiponamu.
01:00So we'd hit a possum and we were, oh, so we went and slowed down and then we hit a
01:04deer.
01:04You hit a deer?
01:18Cutting straight across the farms of the Canterbury Plains, State Highway 1 between Te Maru and Christchurch is famously the
01:26most boring stretch of road in the country.
01:29But Senior Constable Ben Grant finds things here anything but boring.
01:35So we've got a clear South Canterbury day which we get plenty of.
01:38Most liveable city in New Zealand now, apparently.
01:42We get a lot of sunlight hours.
01:45In theory that should mean that everyone is able to behave really well on the roads.
01:49Yeah, it should be a straight-forward ride-o, you would think.
01:52Where else would you spend the morning, one, changing a tyre on a van?
01:57I'm going to get high enough.
01:59Two, hunting for a GPS and long grass with some friendly motorcyclists?
02:04It's a bit like finding a golf ball when I play golf.
02:07Needle in a haystack.
02:09And now, a very odd priority traffic complaint.
02:14Look, we've been able to pour up the influence thing.
02:17The arms are through the back window.
02:19And it's certainly to stretch between tears.
02:21They believe there might be a passenger in the boot.
02:23We should come across it in the next five minutes with a little bit of luck.
02:26We'll see what speed it's doing and then whip around and stop and have a talk to it.
02:29Sure enough, Ben spots the car at the back of a line of traffic.
02:33Coming out of Heinz.
02:35I've just got it northbound out of Heinz.
02:37Just trying to catch up.
02:40Does this mean the driver will have good Heinz sight?
02:44Hey, the reason I stopped you, there was a traffic complaint,
02:46a priority complaint made about your driving.
02:49Just excessive speed and they actually thought someone might have been in the boot.
02:52They saw some hands or something, they're in the boot.
02:54There is.
02:55He seems to realise the game is up.
02:58Yeah, old mate's in the back all killed up.
03:01The genie is out of the bottle.
03:04It's no joke.
03:05We had a fatal in South Canterbury a couple of years ago involving people in the boot of a car.
03:11If something goes wrong, it ends up really wrong.
03:13So we're going to have to deal with him and the driver because the driver knows damn well he's there.
03:17Then we're going to have to work out what he's going to do
03:18because he hasn't got a way of going anywhere from here.
03:21At least Logan's not driving because Logan's disqualified.
03:23So at least it's not that way around.
03:27Yeah, there is one rooster in the boot currently dealing with him.
03:30They weren't speeding.
03:31A couple of little issues to work through.
03:33I'll get you posted if it all is good.
03:34The rooster from the boot has nothing to crow about.
03:37It wasn't too bad.
03:38It was quite comfy.
03:39I almost fell asleep.
03:42It was a nice and smooth ride.
03:44It wasn't too bad.
03:45Who's going to be the one going back to Heinz to wait for a lift?
03:48I can probably get someone to come from Winslow.
03:50I hate his guts.
03:52Hang on, I've got a phone call.
03:54Hello, how you doing?
03:57So the one thing I don't want is I don't want you to be a risk to people driving past.
04:02I also don't want anyone to start walking up the highway.
04:05Ben's not letting anyone leave here unless it's safe.
04:09So what about this friend you don't like?
04:11Do you reckon you could just agree to get over that just so you can get your ass burden or
04:14something?
04:15Hey mate, how you doing?
04:17How are you working at the moment?
04:19I was loaned the boot of a mate's car to get up to Christchurch and we got pulled over by
04:23a cop just after the Heinz breaks.
04:26And I need to find the right to get the ass.
04:29So who is taking that third seat in the back?
04:34A baby.
04:35Just trying to ensure it's seated correctly.
04:38Seeing there were some other seating issues.
04:40The next question then is why so many people had to be in this car for this trip?
04:44I had to get him to an appointment and him to a new car.
04:47Right way up to Christchurch to get my new car.
04:50Oh, I'm just coming with mate to get his new car.
04:52I've got a couple of mates I've got to go see in Christchurch.
04:56Nothing that was worth risking everyone's lives for then.
04:59I'm going to take him back to Heinz.
05:01At least there's a toilet that he can sit down, play on the playground, whatever he wants to do.
05:08And then he can either get picked up by a mate or picked up by someone else, but he's not
05:11to go back in the boot of that.
05:13Yeah, getting a ticket for something like that is much better than us pulling you out in six parts, you
05:17know.
05:17The boot rider gets a fine for his unsafe position and the driver gets one for allowing it to happen.
05:26What is it?
05:27I'm not tasering you.
05:30I'm not, unless you're under arrest I can't handcuff you.
05:34I don't know if it's a weird fantasy of yours, but I can't.
05:37I've just always been on my bucket list.
05:40Yeah, I was going to say get your mate to handcuff you and we don't want that on video.
05:46What else is on his bucket list?
05:48If it was a fine, then he's ticked it off already.
05:51So the 20 demerits and a hundred for fuel ticket each.
05:54The driver is on 95 demerit points already, which means he'll be losing his licence for three months once the
06:00tickets are processed.
06:01The solution that we're working with is I'm taking the passenger back to Heinz.
06:05It's about a K or two to the south.
06:06He can wait there, there's a toilet rest area and whatever.
06:10A mate's going to pick him up and the rest of the crew are heading back north to Christchurch where
06:14they were intending to going.
06:16Yep, I think everyone's happy. Happy enough.
06:18Everyone's safe and well, that's the main thing.
06:21Make sure you don't ride in the boot again, man.
06:23I won't.
06:24Good boy.
06:31Meandering through native bush and farmland is the highway south from Nelson to the Alpine Lake of Rotuiti.
06:39Senior Constable Alf Blair is doing anything but meandering along it.
06:43It appears a car's come off the road and a person is trapped and it's down by St Arnard.
06:50Very sketchy about what's happened at the moment but we'll go down and see what's going on.
06:55And Alf is close to getting there.
06:58Hello.
07:00This has just happened too.
07:02I've just come across another 1V, a van off the road on Kariri Top House Road.
07:07Bit of moments and attention, who was driving?
07:09It was at two o'clock yesterday morning.
07:11Two o'clock this morning.
07:13Okay, and you've just come back to recover it?
07:15Yeah.
07:15Alright, so I can stand my colleague down, there's no issue.
07:19No.
07:20No.
07:23It's not often Alf has to stop for a crash on the way to a crash.
07:27Alright, another 1V down the Wairau highway road to a Nazi.
07:31That's okay.
07:32Another crash down the Wairau.
07:34Three crashes in one day already.
07:37Luckily, another officer is dealing with the Wairau crash.
07:40Alf has enough on his plate.
07:42You just don't know what your day's going to bring.
07:44That's for sure.
07:51Oh, look at that.
07:52Right there.
07:53Even though the fire service and tow truck are in attendance, Alf needs to document the scene and talk to
07:58the driver.
08:00Howdy.
08:01So there's a lady up there.
08:02Yeah.
08:03She's a driver?
08:04She's a driver, yeah.
08:05She's the only person in the car.
08:07Yeah.
08:07She's okay.
08:08She's got some bruises from a previous accident a week ago.
08:10Okay.
08:11All right.
08:12The holiday season can be very disorientating.
08:15And you've been checked out by the medical and you're all good?
08:19Cool.
08:20Can you tell me what happened?
08:21So I was turning right.
08:24I got to turn right and then my sat nav told me to go straight.
08:27Yes.
08:28So I indicated, I guess I did.
08:30I don't really remember how I ended up in the drain.
08:36The sat nav swerve is not a common cause of crashes.
08:39And this just gives us an indication that you pass.
08:43Big word, pass.
08:45There's no alcohol involved, but...
08:48I've been told there's a truck broken down at the corner on the double yellow line about a kilometre down
08:54the road.
08:54Okay, yeah.
08:55And now Alf has to get moving before the broken down truck causes crash number four.
09:08On the winding Alpine highway between Nelson and Lake Rotuiti, Senior Constable Alf Blair has already been to two crash
09:16scenes before breakfast.
09:17It's not affecting anyone. My colleague will catch up with them and just decide how to deal with it.
09:24And he's just got a call to a third incident that may cause the fourth crash in the area today.
09:29The comms on 10-2, also on state 63.
09:35A vehicle broken down in an awkward location.
09:38I'm just going down to have a look at that.
09:41This breakdown has not caused a crash yet, but on a blind corner in an 80k area, the fire volunteers
09:48are putting themselves at risk slowing traffic.
09:51Alright, now I'm going to stop here.
09:53I'll go back up high on the hill so that we can give cover to this lady who's saying slow
09:59down.
10:01The lights of the police car are a much safer way to slow traffic.
10:07But both directions are blind, so Alf needs help.
10:10Could you come down to my location? I need front and back cover for this broken down truck.
10:15Just hazards up and lights flashing to slow all the traffic down.
10:20But this is a bit bigger than one broken down truck.
10:24I'm hoping there's a truck driver trying to help another truck driver as opposed to two broken down trucks.
10:30There are trucks and people everywhere.
10:33And all hidden by corners and forest.
10:36Oh, it's three trucks.
10:38And this will be a case of truck drivers helping truck drivers, which they're very good at doing.
10:43Gentlemen, how are you?
10:44I'm good. We think of that one, or that one, which is gone, which locks up that back road.
10:51Okay, so you're going to be here for a while, aren't you?
10:53Could be.
10:54Could be, yeah.
10:55Yeah.
10:56Alright, I'll get...
10:56So I'll try, if we can get going, I'll get up and out of the way.
10:59Yeah, yeah.
11:00He's currently locked in position.
11:03He's expecting a replacement part or the breakdown crew to come out of Blenheim to assist,
11:09and that's going to be a couple of hours away.
11:12So, for the next two hours, traffic control will be all down to Alf and the other police officer.
11:18And it's critical work on a day that needs no more crashes.
11:23With a speed limit of 80 kilometres an hour, wet roads, and people working on the road, Alf sets his
11:30radar on the oncoming traffic.
11:32Whoa!
11:3598.
11:37You?
11:38Here.
11:39Just want you to park off the road.
11:42Sir, you are doing 98 kilometres an hour in an 80 zone.
11:46So where are you from, US?
11:48US.
11:49An instant fine of $120 will remind the tourists to keep an eye on speed limits and road conditions.
11:56Don't speed.
11:58The mechanic has arrived.
12:00But it was the flashing lights and good communication between the police officers that have kept everyone safe for the
12:07past two hours.
12:08With the truck finally moving out of the forest and no more crashes to add to the tally, traffic can
12:14flow freely again.
12:16Yeah, we always get the vehicle out of the way in the end and people come and help to sort
12:22it all out.
12:30It's the height of summer in central Otago.
12:33People are on their way home from work thinking about dinner.
12:37Reminds Constable Kieran Reeve of the old saying,
12:40Sun's out, buns out.
12:42Ready for barbecue o'clock.
12:45Burger buns will have to wait though,
12:47because Kieran has seen a man in a van with something else out.
12:51Yeah, bud.
12:51Yeah, he's put his seatbelt on now.
12:54We'll have a yarn to him and see what his reasoning is for that.
12:59Any reason why you didn't have your seatbelt on before?
13:01Yeah, I just left the gym and I just got to leave right before.
13:05Okay.
13:05Big day.
13:06Yeah?
13:06What have you been up to?
13:07Oh, just walking.
13:09I'm still moving.
13:10Okay.
13:10I just went to the gym to bunks and shoulder.
13:12After you've been working all day, you went to go pump some iron.
13:18This one is not going to get fined, is it?
13:20Yeah, boys.
13:22Failing to restrain biceps with a seatbelt is a $150 fine.
13:26This suns out, guns out traveller is unconcerned and just wants to chat.
13:32I'm a bit Colombian.
13:33Yeah, yeah.
13:34I'm Italian.
13:35I'm a bit Italian.
13:36Mama is Colombiana.
13:37Papa, dad is Italian.
13:39Yeah, just make sure you've got your seatbelt on.
13:40Yeah.
13:41All righty.
13:42Thank you for that.
13:43Sorry.
13:43Big day.
13:44Big day.
13:44Yeah.
13:45Yeah.
13:46All right.
13:46Sweeties.
13:47Thanks for that and you guys have a good day.
13:49Next time you come to the gym as well.
13:51Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:52Big arms, bro.
13:53Yeah, yeah.
13:54We do arm wrestling, you know.
13:56Yeah, yeah.
13:56We have a national competition.
13:58Oh, real?
13:58Yeah, yeah.
14:02I need to train or do a seatbelt like that.
14:05Yeah.
14:07Good on you, bud.
14:08All right.
14:08See ya.
14:10Hopefully, the prize money for arm wrestling is at least $150 to pay for his fine.
14:17All right.
14:17See you there, boys.
14:18He did have big biceps, but unfortunately, I could still see that he had no seatbelt around
14:24them.
14:25So, yeah, he's still going to cop the ticket for that one and good luck to him.
14:29Okay.
14:34The city of Hamilton is surrounded by dairy country and has long been the butt of jokes
14:43called Cowtown and the Tron.
14:45However, the locals prefer City of the Future.
14:50But on a drizzly Friday evening, Senior Constable Warren Watts is going with loss of Traction
14:56Town.
14:59Whoa.
15:00That's not normal.
15:04Hello.
15:05What happened there, buddy?
15:06I don't know.
15:06It just slipped.
15:08Did you put on too much power or something like that when you're going around?
15:11No.
15:12Okay.
15:12Count to ten, please.
15:13One.
15:15He's not been drinking.
15:17Sweet.
15:18Okay.
15:18Hey, look.
15:18I'm just going to check your tyres, all that sort of stuff, eh?
15:20Because worn tyres on wet roads grip like a hockey puck on ice.
15:24The ones on the left-hand side are probably a little bit down.
15:27Yeah.
15:28You might have to replace them fairly soon.
15:30It just seems weird that you've gone and spun out there.
15:34Yeah, I don't know.
15:34I was just trying to do the turn and then just start to feel the bank slip out and then,
15:40yeah, just turn around.
15:42Yeah.
15:42Less speed and more gentle braking from now on.
15:45Yeah, just be careful of that, eh?
15:47Yeah, really.
15:47Yeah.
15:47Alright, no worries.
15:48Take care, man.
15:49Alright, see ya.
15:49Yep.
15:50But just around the corner, someone else is having issues with their accelerator foot.
15:58I heard that.
16:00I saw that and I smelt that.
16:11It's a slippery night in Hamilton for Senior Constable Warren Watts.
16:16Whoa!
16:17That's not normal.
16:18I heard that.
16:20Yeah.
16:20I saw that and I smelt that.
16:22But a cloud of burning rubber means this driver knew exactly what he was doing.
16:28Hey, mate.
16:28Let's go.
16:30You know why we stopped you?
16:32Uh, why is it good?
16:34We were behind you.
16:36Where somebody...
16:39Yes.
16:40...left some rubber behind, didn't they?
16:43Yeah.
16:44Yeah!
16:46That's right.
16:47This is that moment then, when the rubber hits the road.
16:51Why?
16:53I was just going for a bit of a door ride.
16:55I was having a bit of fun.
17:01Yeah.
17:01Yeah.
17:02Give me the keys, buddy.
17:04And no keys now either.
17:05Just a quick breath alcohol test.
17:10All right, cool.
17:12Honestly, I've always been pretty sensible.
17:13Yeah.
17:14Um, I've just met some guy over there at the fuel station.
17:16He's got, um, a pretty nice car actually and I was just showing off.
17:23So...
17:23Anything else you'd like to show off while we're here?
17:27You can tell I'm from Hamilton, eh?
17:28Yeah.
17:29Hamilton, the home of the magnificent mullet, where it's business in the front and party in the back.
17:35Uh, no business at all right now.
17:37Do you want to speak to a lawyer at all?
17:39No.
17:40Okay.
17:41So, do you understand why you were stopped?
17:43Yes.
17:44Because I got too keen and I spun my ties.
17:50So what I have to do is summon you to court, okay?
17:54Because...
17:54What does that mean exactly?
17:55Maybe I have to go into court?
17:56Yeah, yeah.
17:57Got to, yeah.
17:58Okay.
17:59You ever been in before?
18:00No.
18:00Do the courts in Hamilton respect a good mullet though?
18:04Ooh.
18:05Can I?
18:06Yeah, they might, um, might prosecute me if I roll up into the, uh,
18:09old court system or fist, eh?
18:12Waiting for the tow truck means the now suspended driver can explain some of the stickers on his pride and
18:18joy.
18:19Keep your opinion to yourself.
18:21I like my car.
18:22It makes me happy.
18:25This one's probably more fitting over here.
18:28Better days are coming.
18:30Yes, but not for at least 28.
18:33So, I mean, anything to do with the boy race and stuff,
18:35sustain levels of traction and anything like that,
18:37is, um, six months disqualification.
18:39However, you can get work licenses.
18:43It depends on the judge what the judge says.
18:45But Warren has some great tips for this car enthusiast,
18:48once he is allowed to drive it again.
18:50Hampton Downs just up the road.
18:52Fantastic.
18:53Taupo not too far away.
18:54Yeah.
18:55Go there.
18:56So, yeah, go there.
18:57Go there.
18:57Um, I'm in a car club and they tend to go to a lot of track days.
19:01Yes.
19:01And I'd love to rip around with them.
19:03Yep.
19:03Show them what this can do, you know.
19:05Yep.
19:05And I'd love to see as well what this can do in a straight line.
19:09Yep.
19:09I can assure you that a car that's not necessarily as powerful as the other cars
19:13can be actually just as much fun because you're actually driving it.
19:17Yeah.
19:18You know, on the track, you're actually driving it to what its potential is.
19:21Yeah.
19:22The tow truck has arrived and so has the lad's long-locked flatmate to give them a ride home.
19:28I will say one thing, though.
19:31It's a good way to start the new year.
19:32Start from the bottom and it can only get better from here on.
19:36Hamilton, the city of the future.
19:38A future without this car doing any burnouts on the road.
19:42Think twice.
19:44So a car was impounded for 28 days for sustained loss of traction.
19:49Seemed like a good young character.
19:50I hope he uses the car for track days as opposed to burnouts on the road.
20:02The tiny Otago town of Ofa is officially the coldest in New Zealand.
20:06But today, Cromwell is giving them a run for their money.
20:10Yeah, a lot of snow. It is cold.
20:15Senior Constable Graham Butter is making sure everyone is safe and warm.
20:20All the best. Please slow down. Take it easy.
20:22Welcome to Cromwell.
20:23I'm probably not the one you wanted to meet.
20:25With a smile on his face.
20:27Buckle up, Buttercup. Let's see what we can find.
20:31Buttercup is secured. And what has he found?
20:34Someone's had a bit of a fender bender and taken out a light,
20:37but it did look like reasonably recent.
20:42So we'll just go and see if the, make sure the rest of the car is fine.
20:46Seems the crash has left the indicators worse for wear as well.
20:50How are you? Good.
20:53What's happened to your wee car?
20:55We had a deer.
20:57You had a deer?
20:58Yeah, on the west coast. And a deer jumped in front of our car to drive up.
21:02Oh, wow.
21:03So, was this a stag in the dark?
21:05It was really late and we were both so frightened that we didn't really stop.
21:09But Sophia reckons she saw the deer kind of get up.
21:12Yeah, kind of got up.
21:13But I don't know if it lived for long after that.
21:16It was in rough shape. And the front of my car was covered in blood and fur.
21:19Yeah, but we were only going about 70 at the time because we'd just hit a possum.
21:23So we thought...
21:24There were so many possums.
21:25There were so many possums.
21:26So we'd hit a possum and we went, oh, so we slowed down and then we hit a deer.
21:29And then it was just, it was always comical. It was really bad.
21:33They have managed the impossible, taking out two pests in one night.
21:38Oh my God, I'm never driving at night again.
21:42Be aware that you've got no lights on that side.
21:44So for a lot of people, they'll think it could be a motorcycle coming towards them.
21:49Especially in the build-up areas, you watch pedestrians that may step out in front of you.
21:52So the poor wee car might be dead.
21:54It's done well.
21:56Old Caroline, you know.
21:58That's quite the tally for one night's driving then.
22:02One Caroline, one Jack and one deer.
22:04Part of driving in the rural areas is you've got to be aware that wild animals can run out in
22:13front of you.
22:13So drive accordingly.
22:15Pest-free New Zealand within 2050 or whatever.
22:20So they're doing their part.
22:22The man with the mullet was charged with sustained loss of traction
22:26and was sentenced to six months disqualification and a $300 fine.
22:30The driver of the car with the boot rider lost his license for three months for excess demerits.
22:36They both got a $150 fine.
22:4083% of fatal crashes involve young drivers.
22:44Drive seriously, responsibly and get home safe.
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