Coromandel fatal crash victim named as Jason David Taana

Police have named the victim of a fatal crash on the Coromandel Peninsula last month.

He was Jason David Taana, 33, of Waiomu.

Emergency services responded to the two-vehicle crash on State Highway 25 at Te Puru between Thames and Coromandel shortly before 9am on December 27.

Inquiries into the crash are continuing.

The crash happened during the Christmas and New Year holiday road toll period, in which 13 people died.

A person died in Tauranga and another in Wharehine, near Auckland, in crashes on December 24.

Mere McCabe, 39, of Gisborne died near the Tairāwhiti-Bay of Plenty border on State Highway 35 on Boxing Day, while another died in a two-vehicle crash on State Highway 10 at Waipapa in Northland on December 28.

Reif Cotter died after falling from a mattress on top of a car in Napier on December 27 while Parahaki Rurehe, 10, of Ōtaki died in a motorbike crash on Main Rd in Murupara on December 28.

Agambir Singh Dhanju, 2, and 38-year-old Sumeet Sumeet, both of Auckland, died in a two-car crash on State Highway 1 at Mangaweka on December 29.

One person died following a two-vehicle crash in the Selwyn District town of Darfield on January 1, while another person died after a crash in Bunnythorpe, Manawatū on New Year’s Eve.

Another died following a crash between a vehicle and a bicycle on State Highway 29 at Matamata on January 2 and one person died after a single-vehicle crash on Ihumatao Rd, Māngere the same day.

‘We all need to do better’

Police director of road policing Superintendent Steve Greally said this holiday period road toll was just over half last year’s total of 22.

“While it’s fantastic to have seen this number drop, any death on the roads is still one too many.

“That’s still 13 families who have had their lives irrevocably changed at what should be a happy and festive time of year, and our hearts go out to them.

National road policing manager Superintendent Steve Greally. Photo / File

Police would continue to be out in force across the country this summer, conducting road policing operations and patrols to target unsafe driver behaviour, he said.

Police said enforcement action has proven to deter people from driving dangerously.