When Warren Bunn bows out of a 43-year Ministry of Transport-Police career in July 2024, he can hold his head high knowing he and his colleagues have made a difference to our communities by keeping us safe.

Sadly, the one thing they have not been able to crack is finding a way to stop poor driving behaviour in Northland - bad habits that often end up in deathly road crashes, lifelong injuries and trauma to bodies, brains and family.

And for Warren, after decades attending to thousands of needless road crashes in Northland - hundreds of them fatal, his frustration is evident.

Seatbelts, he reiterates, are our cheapest form of life insurance. Wearing them is a no brainer.

As Northland’s appalling road toll continues to climb in 2024, Warren says to have recorded over 20 road deaths by June is alarming. In 2023, 38 people died on Northland roads, the highest statistic for decades, which was devastating for all first responders attending the trauma and carnage, he says.

Despite Northland Road Safety Week being behind us for 2024, Warren says there is far more work to do changing driver behaviour on Northland roads - and that work is required throughout the year.

“People need to recognise that Road Safety Week starts with every day, every week and every month of the year.”

Unfortunately, due to the technology in modern cars, Warren says we have become a country of ‘steerers’.

“That’s what so many people do now - they steer cars. Back in the day when a car had a manual gearbox, you had no choice to be engaged and drive a vehicle and that made you a far better driver. You had to select your gear to cater for the upcoming corner. Driving was a practical art and you had no option but to be engaged, concentrate and drive.

“It has become too comfortable for people to drive nowadays and that has made people lazy drivers because they put an automatic transmission into gear and drive and brake. That’s all.

“Too often people choose a speed too great for the road or weather or traffic congestion conditions. Then you combine speed with alcohol and/or drugs and no restraints. It’s not going to end well.”

Using surveying equipment Warren and his colleagues undertake crash analysis, producing 2D and 3D mapping to create crash plans to determine the likely cause of roading crashes. They carry out the same work if requested with homicide scenes.

Too often, the cause is a lack of care and concentration, resulting in devastating outcomes that have lifelong impacts.

So, with retirement pending and plenty of family time and relaxation planned, Warren can reflect on a vastly challenging and interesting career that has allowed him to have experiences most people don’t get to experience and learn plenty along the way.

“Two years ago, when I informed my boss I was going in 2024, I expected to meet about another 20 people that would be dead, they just didn’t know it. That 20 has become 32 over that period.”

As for a parting - and final - message for motorists throughout New Zealand?

“People need to take responsibility for their own actions and call out their work colleagues, friends and family for bad driving behaviour.”

“There used to be a phrase bandied around in the Serious Crash Units, ‘our day starts when your life ends’.”

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