DOUBLE TRAGEDY: Two people died in a Paengaroa crash between a car and a tanker on December 28.
"I'm absolutely gutted," says the head of Western Bay road policing after the district clocked up its worst number of road fatalities in more than a decade.
Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said in 2014 there were 14 road crashes, resulting in 16 deaths, which included nine head-on crashes and three intersection fatalities.
"This is the worst year since 2003. I'm absolutely gutted. Last year was a shocker right from the start of the year. It's really disheartening, especially as 90 per cent of police time was spent working hard on preventative activities and we get a year like this," he said.
Mr Campion said police had worked extremely hard to reduce the high number of serious injury crashes and road fatalities in the district, which had reduced from 27 in 2003 to six fatalities in 2013.
"Everyone is responsible for road safety, and motorists need to start heeding our warnings. Sixteen deaths are simply not acceptable to me, it never will be. Last year's road toll was an absolute shocker.
"That's a lot of people affected, not just the person's family and friends, but police and other emergency services and local city councils and NZ Transport Agency officials, who all do a lot of soul searching how to prevent more crashes."
Mr Campion said there were a variety of factors but crossing the centre line was a predominant feature in nine fatal crashes, and speed was a common factor in a number of crashes.
Other factors included inattention, distractions, and fatigue. Mr Campion said almost all those crashes were preventable.
Police would continue to take a hard line on poor driver behaviour, including people speeding and flouting the reduced alcohol limits, because each road death did not just mean a loss of life but took a huge toll on police, fire crews and St John ambulance staff who had to see the carnage, he said.
Critics, including New Zealand First MP Ron Mark, have labelled a zero-speed tolerance campaign over the holiday period as a failure, given that the provisional national holiday road toll, which stood at 17, was more than double last year's figure.
Assistant commissioner in charge of road policing Dave Cliff said the speed enforcement policy was based on sound research from bodies such as the World Health Organisation, the European Union and road safety scientists around the world.
Western Bay road toll
2014: 16 *provisional road toll
2013: 6
2012: 8
2011: 14
2010: 13
2009: 10
2008: 10
2007: 11
2006: 13
2005: 10
2004: 14
2003: 27
- Source: Tauranga police
2014 roll call of fatal crashes on Western Bay roads
December 28: The Rotorua driver of a VW Golf dies after a collision with a tanker on State Highway 2, Paengaroa. His 31-year-old Rotorua passenger died overnight.
December 26: Timaru man Kevin Keane dies after a collision between his rented Nissan and a Mazda on SH2, Whakamarama.
December 6: Matapihi father of two Justin Phillip Dickson, 22, dies after his Suzuki 650 motorbike hits a 24-tonne digger parked on Matapihi Rd.
November 24: Shirley O'Connor, 88, of Katikati, dies after a collision between her mobility scooter and a passing truck.
November 7: Motorcyclist Craig Ritchie, 34, dies in a crash on SH2.
October 22: Karanbir Singh, 19, dies after the car he is in collides with the Tauranga mobile library on Welcome Bay Rd.
July 24: Peter Curnow, 78, killed in a crash on SH2.
June 3: Roy Clifford Baxter, dies from injuries suffered in a head-on crash on the Kaimai Range. On May 29: Jasnoor Kaur, 8, died in the same crash.
May 3: Tracey O'Brien, 26, dies in a crash near Te Puna.
April 9: Kelly Sinclair, 25, found dead in her crashed Audi in Whakamarama.
March 28: Motorcyclist Aterea Moke,29, dies in a crash on SH33 near Paengaroa.
March 9: Shannon Wall, 27, dies in a crash in Te Puke.
February 15: Chris Solomann, 61, dies after hitting a concrete barrier near Domain Rd.
February 7: Gordon Walker, 77, dies in a crash near Kauri Point Rd.