Fiji Police Force chief operations officer (COO) Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Livai Driu says they are aware of chat groups that share information of police whereabouts during traffic operations.
In a statement, he said such alert groups only led to more dangerous driving behaviour and loss of life on Fiji’s roads.
His comments come in the wake of three incidents over the past few days, one of which claimed the life of a 54-year-old man.
ACP Driu said the man was walking along Lavusa Rd in Nadi when he was allegedly bumped by a vehicle driven by a 67-year-old man.
The victim was rushed to the Nadi Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
A second incident happened on Saturday where a vehicle that was carrying a woman and three children got involved in an accident along the Queens Rd near Nabou.
The driver of the vehicle, a 60-year-old man, was alleged to have lost control of the vehicle causing it to veer off the road.
On Friday morning, three people were taken to the Sigatoka Hospital after the vehicle they were traveling in was involved in a head-on collision along the Queens Rd on Vatukarasa Bridge.
Police are now searching for the driver after he fled the scene.
“The attitude of some drivers is often, that they adhere to road rules where police are conducting traffic operations, and once they pass, they continue on with dangerous driving habits such as speeding and careless driving, the two causes of accidents and fatalities,” ACP Driu said.
“Some of them drive well above the national speed limit getting caught driving above 100 kilometres per hour.
“These are very dangerous habits that lead to accidents and fatalities.
“The road death toll currently stands at 31 compared with nine for the same period last year which is alarming.”
Mr Driu said police could not be everywhere, which was why advisories on road safety were issued with the hope that they would be taken seriously and adhered to, at all times.
