Two Te Puke men had to be cut from their vehicles following a head-on crash on State Highway 2 this morning, bringing peak-hour traffic to a crawl on either side of the town, and leaving vehicles backed up as far as Papamoa.
The crash happened just north of Te Puke township at 6.40am when a Bluebird car driven by a 24-year-old man, and a Metro GlassTech van, driven by a 52-year-old man, collided. The crash happened in a 50km/h speed zone.
The driver of the car, who was returning home from work, was seriously injured in the crash, suffering lower leg fractures, and cuts to his knee and elbow as well as possible head injuries.
St John rural support officer Richard Waterson said staff were hopeful the man's injuries would not be revealed to be more serious once further tests were carried out in hospital.
The driver of the van, who was on his way to work, suffered fractures to his lower legs.
Both men were taken to Tauranga Hospital by St John ambulances.
At Te Puke High School, school trips and classes were delayed by up to an hour because of the crash.
David Crone, Te Puke High School deputy principal, said staff members were still on the road at 9am, after leaving their homes at 7am.
"Usually it would take them about 15 or 20 minutes," he said.
More than 20 minutes after the first bell this morning, Mr Crone said they were still awaiting the arrival of several teachers and buses loaded with students.
Classes left without teachers were being told to meet in the school hall, while a trip to Waiariki Institute of Technology would be delayed by up to an hour.
A staff member at Te Puke Primary School said her 10-minute drive evolved into an hour-long journey this morning.
"We are still waiting on buses and students. The whole town is gridlocked," she said.
"My husband wanted to get into work early, and well, we ended up being late."
Johannes Erasmus, store manager at Te Puke New World on Oxford St, was still waiting for delayed staff members when the Bay of Plenty Times spoke to him about 9.10am.
Mr Erasmus arrived at work 25 minutes late because of the crash.
At least three other staff members at the supermarket were delayed.
Some truck drivers spoken to by the Bay of Plenty Times this morning were still stuck in traffic, more than three hours after the crash occurred.
Senior sergeant Ian Campion, of road policing, said delays were inevitable, as an average of 25-27,000 cars drove on SH2 between Tauranga and Te Puke every day. Following the crash, diversions were set up through Dunlop Rd, Raymond Ave and Cameron Rd.
Te Puke Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Glenn Williams said it took firefighters about 20 minutes to cut the van driver from his vehicle, and about 35 minutes to free the driver of the car. Both drivers were conscious.
Police were at the scene determining the speed the vehicles were travelling when they collided.
Tests would also establish whether alcohol was a factor in the crash.
By 8am today traffic was banked up 8km along SH2 from the crash scene to the Shell service station, near the intersection of Welcome Bay Rd.
The south-bound lane through Te Puke from Tauranga opened about 9am. By 9.30am, the north-bound lane remained closed due to oil on the road. Mr Williams said in January, another crash had occurred on the bridge just north of this morning's accident scene. Four people were injured.
This morning's crash came just days after three people lost their lives on the same stretch of SH2, just south of Te Puke, but Senior Sergeant Deidre Lack was reluctant to blame the road.
"It's just tragic, you know, we've already had one crash on State Highway 2," she said.
Two people injured in that crash this morning remained in a stable condition in Tauranga Hospital.
In a separate crash this morning, a car ended up down a bank after it collided with a truck on State Highway 29 about 7.50am.
The crash occurred near the entrance to the Sanctuary Point holiday park at Windermere. No one was injured.with staff reporters
Head-on causes gridlock
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