Man warned over imitation firearm
Police have warned a 29-year-old Queenstown man who allegedly presented an imitation firearm in a burst of road rage at another driver while caught in Frankton’s frustrating traffic gridlock on Tuesday evening.
Senior Sergeant Glenn Wilkinson says Police were called by a member of the public when two drivers appeared to be having an argument, stopping their cars to yell at one another at Frankton at about 6.20pm. It was reported to Police that one of the drivers had allegedly presented a firearm to the other, he says.
Police arrived and found one of the vehicles near the Frankton Golf Course where it was searched, locating an imitation firearm.
Wilkinson confirmed today (Thursday) that Police had followed up with the registered owner of this vehicle. “A 29-year-old Queenstown man was spoken to by police in relation to the incident and has been formally warned for his actions in presenting an imitation firearm.”
Road Policing Sergeant Bruce Martin is urging motorists to be “considerate and patient”. “We know there’s a lot of pressure on people to get to and from work, family commitments, flights and the likes, but losing your rag and thumping on the steering wheel doesn’t get you anywhere quicker,” Martin says. “Getting agitated and upset only hurts you.”
While road rage incidents locally are not that common, Police occasionally see drivers shaking fists and shouting things out their windows as they think they’ve been wronged by another driver.
The authorities are doing all they can with restricted choices so it’s really up to road users to be as courteous as possible, he says.
The area is experiencing heavy traffic flows with so many skiers and boarders in the area, international travellers and extra school holiday traffic, as well as locals going about their daily business.
“Realistically people just have to be patient and courteous as when they do traffic moves a lot quicker. It’s all about trying to keep traffic flowing safely and if people keep trying to push in, parking over and blocking intersections they just cause more gridlock and delays,” Martin says. “ “If you have the ability to let others in then fold like a zip.”
With school holidays, a bumper ski season underway and wet weather, Wilkinson says traffic volumes around Queenstown have increased. “We ask that drivers be patient and watch their following distances too to avoid those ‘nose-to-tail’ crashes which just further slows down the traffic.”
