Three die in holiday crashes

Emergency services at the scene of the fatal collision near Taupo. Photo / Youthtown Trust Rescue Helicopter

Labour weekend road chaos yesterday left three dead, a little boy with serious injuries and thousands of motorists delayed.

Two of the deaths came after a head-on two-car smash amid heavy holiday traffic on State Highway 1 at Five Mile Bay, 8km south of Taupo, about 3.15pm.

One, a woman in her 80s travelling alone, died at the scene. The other, a woman in her 60s, sustained leg and abdominal injuries and died at Taupo Hospital before she could be airlifted to Waikato Hospital for specialist treatment.

A man travelling with the younger woman escaped with minor injuries.

One local said the scene was a mess, with shattered glass everywhere.

"It was horrifying. The cars were sitting there smashed, sitting nose to nose.

"One young woman who was driving behind one of the cars said she saw it veer over the line right before the crash."

Taupo Fire Station Officer Lou McCauley said firefighters had to cut all three victims free.

"It was quite a mess. You have two cars doing 100km/h hitting head-on. That's a 200km/h impact.

McAuley said firefighters had been called to crashes at that spot several times.

Another resident, Paul Beamish, said while the road looked innocent, a kink created a blind spot. "There was a serious crash there only six weeks ago. There are about three really bad ones every year. They need to put double yellow lines up."

Taupo District councillor Kathryn Uvhagen was driving past shortly after the accident and said the crash looked "diabolical".

"Judging from the state of the vehicles I'm surprised anyone survived."

She planned to start a discussion about safety measures at the council but said the final decision would be down to the New Zealand Transport Agency.

The third death came after a 4WD rolled into a river on the Maungatapu Track in the Maitai Valley, Nelson, about 5.40pm. Two others were taken to hospital.

The Nelson serious crash unit was at the scene.

In Auckland a child was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after running in front of a vehicle.

Emergency services were called to Bairds Rd, Otara about 7pm. A resident said the boy, whose age was unknown, was there with his grandmother and the street had been very busy because of funeral traffic.

Also about 7pm, a woman suffered serious head injuries after being thrown from a car in nearby Manurewa.

Another woman was in a serious condition after being hit by a 4WD vehicle on a rural property west of Hokitika about 3pm yesterday; and a 21-year-old quadbike rider suffered serious spinal injuries after tumbling from his vehicle on sand dunes at Muriwai, north-west of Auckland.

The smash south of Taupo caused traffic to back up along State Highway 1, adding to the many clogged roads across the country.

The accident brought a plea from police national headquarters last night for motorists returning home tomorrow to drive safely and stagger return journeys.

"If you're going to travel at the peak times, you have to expect delays," said national road policing manager Superintendent Paula Rose.

"You've only got one life, so treat it carefully."

Thousands of people sat in traffic in Auckland and Wellington as attempts to enjoy the long weekend turned to a sweltering wait.

Motorists heading north from Auckland endured a 15km queue on SH1 south of Warkworth for much of the day.

NZTA spokesman Ewart Barnsley said the traffic peaked between 11am and 1pm, after which it remained heavy but began to flow more freely. Earlier traffic light faults at Warkworth had no impact, he said.

Inspector Shawn Rutene said traffic was also heavy south of Auckland and police were called to deal with a few minor incidents.

Traffic at the Kopu Bridge at the entrance to the Coromandel peninsula - a notorious holiday bottleneck - was backed up for some time yesterday.

Paul Harper of Thames was heading south for the holiday weekend and said the queue stretched about 5km to Pipiroa.

Travellers leaving Wellington hit major jams on Friday. Traffic remained heavy yesterday but no incidents were reported.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY