Acting Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter, officer in charge of Western Bay of Plenty road policing team. Photo/ File
Acting Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter, officer in charge of Western Bay of Plenty road policing team. Photo/ File
Bay of Plenty's road fatalities continue to soar. Sandra Conchie has talked to road policing managers and road safety advocates what it will take to cut the grim toll.
The Bay of Plenty police district's road toll for 2019 has climbed to 75 with the death of a personin Tauranga Hospital eight days after a crash on the Lower Kaimai range.
The crash on State Highway 29 involving two trucks on December 23 left one person critically injured who police confirmed died in Tauranga Hospital on December 31.
Leo Thomas Chittenden, 29, from Napier and 11-year-old Te Wharerere Hunuhunu from Ōpōtiki also died in a crash on State Highway 5 at Rangitaiki on December 23.
Their deaths have helped to push the Bay of Plenty police district's road toll to at least 75 - that's 23 more than in 2018. It's the highest police district road toll in New Zealand, with Canterbury following with 48 deaths - nationally the road toll provisionally stood at 352 on December 30.
Among the 75 killed in the district was Whakatāne Hospital ICU nurse Sheila Cheng while taking a break from treating burn victims from the Whakaari/White Island eruption.
Cheng, 51, died on December 14 after the car she was in and another vehicle collided on State Highway 30 Tikitere near Lake Rotoiti as her group headed back to Whakatāne.
Her husband Rhys Bugden, 49, and two of other passengers in the same car and the driver of the second vehicle were all seriously injured.
On December 2, Aucklander Duran Hohaia Kelly, 35, died following a head-on collision between two vans on Apata Station Rd near State Highway 2 at Whakamaramara.
Bay of Plenty's road toll featured a number of multiple-victim crashes, which included five Chinese tourists killed in a bus crash on SH5 at Ngatira, near Rotorua on September 4.
Tokoroa parents David Poutawa and Margaret Luke and their five children and Scouts manager Jenny Rodgers, 51, lost their lives in a head-on two-vehicle crash on State Highway 1 near Ohakuri Rd, Atiamuri on April 28.
The crash scene where eight people have been killed and a boy critically injured following a head-on crash near Ohakuri Rd, Atiamuri, Taupo on April 28. Photo / File
Five members of a Rotorua family were also killed on April 1 after their car slammed into a gum tree on Tirohanga Rd, near Taupō.
Police are pleading with people to reduce their speed, put away cellphones, wear seatbelts and not drive impaired.
Acting Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter currently in charge of Western Bay of Plenty road policing team. Photo/ File
Acting Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter, head of Western Bay of Plenty's road policing, said 15 people had died in 13 road crashes on Western Bay roads this year.
Hunter said while that was an improvement on the 18 deaths in 2018, even one road fatality was "one too many", especially when the majority of crashes were preventable.
Speed and driver distractions particularly using cellphones and changing the car radio channel continued to be the two top reasons for serious crashes, he said.
"People going too fast, especially when it's raining, and not being 100 per cent focused on their driving is a recipe for disaster.
"We see it time and time again. Speeding and distracted drivers can end up crossing the centreline."
State Highway 2 between Tauranga and Katikati was considered one of the nation's most dangerous roads for serious injury crashes and fatalities, he said.
Hunter said a permanent dedicated highway patrol team was now assigned to the route, which was in addition to the normal policing of roads and highways in the district.
"It will now one of our three dedicated officers sole responsibility to patrol SH2 north from Bethlehem to Athenree Gorge to help slow people down, and to try and eliminate drivers other risky behaviours, especially cellphone use," he said.
"As I keep saying, it's not the road that's dangerous, it's the way people drove on it that's dangerous. If we can sort that out it, we'll find the road toll will come down significantly."
Rotorua road policing manager Senior Sergeant Malcolm Collins, who endorsed Hunter's comments, said the climbing road toll was a "bad pass mark" for the Bay of Plenty district.
"It's frustrating, upsetting and disappointing that once again speed, people driving impaired and cellphone use all features highly in our road toll."
Collins said another big problem was people not wearing seatbelts.
"We've had a number of crashes this year where people have been ejected from vehicles, and others walked away with relatively minor injuries because they wore seatbelts."
"In terms of the road toll, we've been let down by the number of multiple victims crashes but it's clear our safety messages are just not getting through to some people."
Brake, the road safety charity, is also calling on New Zealand drivers to give the road their full attention and avoid taking risks if heading away over the holiday period.
Caroline Perry, Brake's New Zealand director, said already this year more than 300 families have been given the devastating news that a loved one won't be coming home.
"We want everyone to get to their destination safely and enjoy the holiday period, so slow down, keep your attention on the road and take regular breaks."
NZTA spokesman Ross I'Anson says speed was a factor in the severity of all crashes. Photo / File
NZ Transport Agency's acting director of regional relationships Ross I'Anson said no matter what caused a crash, speed was always a factor in the severity of the outcome.
"Put simply, the speed of impact can be the difference between someone walking away or being carried away from a crash," he said.
2019 Bay of Plenty road toll:
Western Bay (includes Tauranga): 15 fatalities from 13 crashes Eastern Bay: 17 fatalities from 14 crashes Rotorua: 10 fatalities from 10 crashes Taupō: 33 fatalities from 15 crashes
* provisional road roll Source: Police and Ministry of Transport
