Driver fled, one in hospital after Hastings crash

Anyone caught speeding by just 4km over the limit is likely to be ticketed, as police pull out the stops to halt the road toll. Photo / File

A driver fled the scene of a crash at the weekend, which left one person in hospital.

Emergency services were called to the one-car crash at Nicholl Rd, Twyford just before 1am on Sunday.

A sedan had left the road and "ended up in a ditch", a police spokeswoman said. Three passengers had gone to a nearby residence for help, while the driver had left the scene.

Three people involved in the crash were taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital. A man in his 20s was admitted and was in a stable condition, a Hawke's Bay District Health Board spokeswoman said yesterday.

The two others - a male and a female around their late teens and early twenties - were discharged on Sunday morning.

Police were making enquiries, but a spokeswoman said it was believed the driver had been located as of last night.

The spokeswoman said they were not able to suggest what had caused the crash, or whether alcohol was a factor.

This comes as police launch a new campaign, which aims to halt the slew of fatalities that have occurred on New Zealand roads this year.

The road toll currently stands at 339, the highest since 2010. The region's road toll from Wairoa to Tararua is 19 - six more than the total number of fatalities for the region last year.

The campaign will include a reduced speed threshold from 18 December to 8 January.

During this time drivers detected by a safe speed camera exceeding the speed limit by more than 4kmh are likely to be ticketed.

Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing Sandra Venables said police would still have discretion in how they deal with incidents and how they are enforced.

"Police staff will be enabled to deal with offending in the most appropriate way, with well-considered prevention measures often more likely to influence positive change than a ticket," the former Eastern District commander said.