The death toll of seven on the roads on work weekend is ‘deeply distressing’: police

By RNZ

A woman died after a mountain bike accident at Luck on Last Rd, Maungatautari, raising the official toll for the work weekend to seven.

After yesterday’s accident near Cambridge, the woman was airlifted to hospital, where she later died.

This death is included in the official period of the work weekend. The death toll is now seven, compared to just one death during the same period last year.

The rider, a 45-year-old Hamilton woman, fell off her bike head first onto a tarred road, the Waikato-based Greenlea rescue helicopter said.

He suffered a serious head injury as a result of the accident.

The intensive care paramedic on board performed a procedure at the scene to help the injured woman breathe before they could take her to hospital.

The other traffic fatalities over the weekend include one person who was killed in a crash in Horowhenua Sunday night, and another who died when a car rolled down State Highway 35 in Tikitiki, East Cape, Sunday evening. late.

A man who died in an accident on the Tekapo-Twizel highway on Saturday was named Che Tekapa Hogg, 42, of Auckland.

Kelly Eugene Baker, 36, died in an accident in Gisborne early Saturday morning, and another person died in an accident the same day in Whanganui.

A motorcyclist died in Upper Hutt on Friday.

Acting Superintendent Gini Welch, who is the national road watchdog manager, told Morning Report that traffic volume was generally high on long weekends, but on Friday it was “significantly higher” than it had been.

“Most of the serious and fatal accidents that occurred this weekend occurred in areas of 100 km / h, and that is consistent with people traveling.

“It is deeply distressing, there are too many people dying and seriously injured on our roads and this weekend has been another example of that. Sadly, it is not unusual.”

Welch said he didn’t think it was directly related to the pandemic or the lockdown, but people who wanted to take advantage of the warmer weather.

Police will seek to learn the lessons from this year’s crashes.

“We also know that most crashes occur as a result of speed, as a result of distracted driving, impaired, and unfortunately, many people are still not wearing their seat belts,” Welch said.

One of the many crashes this weekend involved at least a dozen people who were injured in a three-car crash on State Highway 5, northeast of Taupō.

The stretch of highway has been described by police as one of the deadliest in the country.

Those involved suffered moderate to severe injuries.

It comes less than fifteen days after a terror crash between a van and a truck killed Tino Tagiilima.

Taupō District Council Mayor David Trewavas told Morning Report officials believed the crashes were the result of a combination of road factors.

“I think you have a combination of metropolitan traffic that has been in the cities for quite some time, and they are traveling around the country quite a bit … so you have a change in conditions and topography of the roads. It’s just a matter of adjusting to the terms “.

He urged motorists to take their time on the road and not rush to their destination, especially if they are not used to provincial road conditions.

When asked if he supported a speed limit reduction on SH5, Trewavas said that in certain places it made sense.

“We actually made it between Taupō and Turangi, which slows down the trip considerably, obviously the locals are a bit grumpy about it.”

Trewavas said motorists owe the country and first responders responsible in their driving.