Police warned the public that there will be increased road and traffic checks from Thursday through to January 6, in a bid to prevent crashes which are typically higher during the holidays.

Zero tolerance will be shown for those who fail to comply ‘with the four main causes of critical crashes’, the police announced on Wednesday.

They singled out speeding, drink driving, not wearing a seatbelt and not wearing a safety helmet as the main violations which lead to loss of life.

The Christmas period is typically a time when a higher number of crashes occur as many people are out driving, while violations such as drink driving also rise.