CAS recorded 28 serious crashes across Tairāwhiti in 2025, resulting in 36 people being seriously injured.
There were 23 serious crashes in 2024, resulting in 25 people being seriously injured.
Crash severity is the severity of the worst injury in the crash.
Five of the 28 serious crashes this year occurred on State Highway 2 south of Gisborne, along the stretch of highway between Makaraka and Wharerata.
Three serious crashes took place at or near intersections on Gisborne’s main streets of Gladstone and Wainui roads, which have a 50km/h speed limit for most of their length through town.
These were located at the Gladstone Rd/Roebuck Rd intersection, Gladstone Rd/Dominion Rd intersection and just past Wainui Rd/Crawford Rd/De Lautour Rd intersection in Kaiti.
The total number of crashes in 2025 up to December 18 was provisionally 347, including 74 minor injury crashes and 245 non-injury crashes.
The total number of crashes in 2024 was 352 (six fatal, 23 serious, 87 minor, 236 non-injury).
NZTA notes, in caveats it provided with the data, that non-fatal crashes are believed to be under-reported due to their nature.
Serious and minor injury crash report data is usually recorded in CAS within four weeks. Non-injury crashes may take up to seven months to be recorded.
Andre Taylor, NZTA Waka Kotahi journey manager for Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti, said crashes were influenced by traffic volumes, driver behaviour, the weather, animals on the road, road works and more, which were constantly changing.
“You will see from the factors that incorrect lane or position, poor handling and travel speed are the most common crash factors indicating driver behaviour,” Taylor said.
In a breakdown of factors contributing to crashes, the number one factor was “poor observation”, which contributed to 87 crashes in 2025.
This was followed by failure to give way or stop (76), incorrect lanes or position (61), poor handling (61) and travel speed (61).
Alcohol (39) or drugs (5) were proven to be a factor in 44 crashes so far this year.
Last year, Inspector Angela Hallett, Eastern District Police road policing manager, said significant contributing factors in crashes included impairment, such as driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and when fatigued, distraction such as phone use, and speed.
A police spokeswoman said these remained the most significant contributors to death or injury on the roads.
Taylor said more cars on the road, tired drivers and people driving on unfamiliar roads could all add up to make holiday driving stressful and risky, but there were simple things everyone could do to stay safe.
“State Highway 2 and 35 will likely be busy with traffic this summer, especially as we get closer to big events like Rhythm and Vines, so give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination,” he said.
“A good tool is our Holiday Journey Planner, which provides estimates of busy and peak traffic times on state highways based on previous measures of traffic volumes.
“We encourage everyone to check that their car is safe before heading off, keep your speeds down, drive sober, watch for signs of fatigue and share the driving on long trips.
“Always drive to the conditions, which can change quickly. Check the weather forecast before leaving home, as well as our real-time traffic updates for any incidents or closures.“
