As the weather warms up and Southlanders begin flocking to the beach, Police are reminding people of an important fact – beaches are roads and need to be treated as such.

Senior Sergeant Scott MacKenzie, Southland Area Road Policing Manager, says while it is legal to drive on Oreti Beach, you still need to adhere to the road rules.

“The beach has a speed limit of 30k/h – there is no excuse to be over this limit.

“The days are getting warmer and with school holidays it can be expected that a lot of families with small children and animals will be heading to the beach to enjoy the sun.

“Anyone driving on the beach needs to be mindful of this, and stay focused on your surroundings,” he says.

The risks of injury or worse, to yourself or others, are just the same as on traditional roads.

Senior Sergeant MacKenzie also reminds beach goers that any form of antisocial road-user behaviour will not be tolerated.

“Some people seem to think that road rules don’t apply to you when on the beach – this is not the case.

“Antisocial driving behaviour is unacceptable, on and off the beach, and we encourage the community to report the driving behaviour immediately.

“It is best to make a report while the incident is occurring to allow our staff the opportunity to respond immediately and hopefully disrupt any offenders in the act.

“Please take note of as much detail as possible, such as registration number of the vehicle, any identifying features of the vehicle and its driver, or even take a video of the driving behaviour if safe to do so,” he says.

You can report information to us by calling 111 if it is happening now, or through 105 for non-emergencies.

Alternatively, you can report information anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.