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Blair Jackson / Stuff
Emergency services deal with a fatal accident on the Riverton-Wallacetown Expressway in Southland.
The holiday highway toll rose to eight after two fatal accidents Tuesday.
Police confirmed the death of one person in a mid-morning crash at Dairy Flats, while earlier in the day one person was killed when two cars crashed together in Pahiatua, north of Masterton.
The deaths have risen to eight since the official holiday period began at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. It runs until 6 a.m. on January 5, 2021.
That’s already double the highway toll during the 2019-2020 Christmas holiday period, when four people died.
READ MORE:
* Holiday road toll: four dead matches throughout the Christmas / New Years period last year
* Long lines form outside Auckland, Wellington as holiday traffic continues
* Four deaths on Auckland roads trigger a warning to drivers: be careful
On Christmas Day, two people were killed in rural south Auckland when the car they were traveling in crashed into a power pole.
Police have since named the couple as Rebecca McAlees, 24, and Terry Charleston, 34.
On Boxing Day, two more people were killed when their car hit a bridge in West Auckland.
Since then, one has been named as Viliami Muru-Teutau, 20. Police say the other person’s name will be released at a later date.
Facebook / Supplied
One of the two young men killed in a serious accident in West Auckland on December 26 has been named father of 20 and rugby player Viliami Muru-Teutau.
On Monday, a man and a woman were killed after a milk tanker and a motorcycle collided in Southland.
Muru-Teutau’s family said they were “devastated” by the loss of the young father.
“Our world has been turned upside down and upside down,” said a spokeswoman for the family.
“This is supposed to be a Christmas season of festive bliss, and instead we are crying and grieving.”
Meanwhile, St John Ambulance urges people to be careful when on vacation, saying that New Year’s Eve, between 10 p.m. and 2 p.m., is the busiest time of the year.
Calls to the 111 ambulance communications center tripled during that time, and a third is related to alcohol.
LAWRENCE SMITH / Things
Scott Hunter fears someone will be seriously injured if road safety improvements are not made after a series of crashes outside his home in Helensville in recent years.
Car accidents are among the most common reasons for 111 calls, it said in a statement.
Deputy CEO Dan Ohs said there would be more ambulances in the hot spots on New Year’s Eve.
“It is important that people take care of each other and have a plan to get home safely,” he said.
“Make sure you drink responsibly, have a sober driver, and drink plenty of water.”
The death toll on New Zealand’s roads in 2020 as of December 29 is 317, 36 of them in the Auckland region. The road toll for 2019 was 349.
Eight people died on Labor Day weekend, the highest toll for the holiday in nearly a decade.
By contrast, there were zero deaths over Easter weekend when the country was on lockdown, only the second time it was recorded.
