Deb Hann
Did you know that over 30 cars have either been stolen or tampered with locally, in the last month alone?
It is time for another request for everyone to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity and report what you see at the time to 111. Sometimes with crime, we don’t see what we aren’t looking for. It can be easy to disregard what may outwardly be dishonest behaviour due to personal preconceptions about what an offender would look like. In Cambridge, we have increasing numbers of people living and working in the area with similarly increasing diversity.
People of any age, ethnicity and financial standing are equally capable of offending. That being said, specific to recent car crime, the suspicious activity I am most focused on includes youths walking around at night, going onto properties, up driveways, looking into vehicles or trying door handles. If you have or are thinking about installing CCTV coverage on your property, this can be very helpful in both deterring crime and providing key evidence regarding offenders, their clothing and behaviours. If parking your car on the street, ensure it is in a well-lit area. Whether on your driveway or the road, however, your car needs to be locked and if you don’t have a car alarm or immobiliser, invest in a good old steering wheel lock. Clear your car of all valuables when you leave it.
Today I’d also like to tell you a little from the Highway Patrol team, one of the teams we have at Cambridge. The highways team patrol’s focus, as you’d think, is road policing on the state highway network. With the development of the Waikato Expressway, State Highway 1 has become Google’s (and many residents’) recommended route between Auckland/north and the wider Bay of Plenty. This has seen traffic levels increase anecdotally around 40-50%. The key messaging remains slow down and be patient. The end of the Waikato Expressway, near the southbound Cambridge onramp has been the site of numerous near misses and a number of crashes as two lanes of high speed traffic merge back into one.
This is a point that regularly sees a queue of slow moving traffic develop. Drivers need to be looking at traffic flows further ahead so they can react accordingly. Further south around Hicks Road, the temporary speed reduction from 100kph to 80kph does appear to be working in reducing the seriousness of crashes. Nevertheless, speed is still an issue with one driver being caught doing 118kph in this zone recently. He was also driving on a revoked licence at the time so his vehicle was impounded.
It is important to plan your travel, be patient and drive defensively as the actions of others can be unpredictable. If you see dangerous driving that is likely to cause a serious crash, call 111. For other inconsiderate driving, report to *555 so that a follow up can be made with the registered owner. Providing vehicle registrations and driver and vehicle descriptions is key. A video of their driving behaviour is again great evidence. Stay safe out there.
