Holiday weekend motorists too quick

Police speak to witnesses to a crash on Ocean Beach Rd yesterday. Photo / Duncan Brown

Police are pleased with a relatively incident-free Queen's Birthday weekend on Hawke's Bay roads as of last night, although not everyone was watching their speed.

Hawke's Bay road policing Senior Sergeant Greg Brown said there had been no serious incidents during the holiday period, although there was still "plenty of general speeding on highways".

Between 1pm and 4.30pm yesterday, he had personally caught 11 people speeding, which was a disappointment.

"I wouldn't have expected to have that many people speeding, about half that would have been normal," he said.

Inspector Dean Clifford said traffic appeared to be "flowing well" as holidaymakers returned to the region yesterday afternoon.

"Everything seems to be flowing well. [It] being the end of a holiday we've got road policing staff at highways north and south, keeping an eye on things. Luckily, the weather's been kind," he said.

Inspector Matt Broderick said while, on the whole, there had been no major problems there had been some incidents which had resulted in emergency services being called out.

The occupant of a 4WD vehicle was lucky to escape serious injury after it rolled down a steep slope near Te Onepu Rd, off SH2, in Central Hawke's Bay on Saturday.

The crash happened about 5.30pm as the driver was towing a trailer of firewood.

Mr Broderick said it appeared the trailer had become detached while the driver was negotiating a tight bend but had enough momentum to push the utility vehicle off the road and down the bank.

While the man's injuries were not known, Mr Broderick did not believe they were serious.

Police were called to a second incident involving a vehicle leaving the road and going down a bank around 3pm on Saturday.

The accident happened at the northern end of the Ngaruroro Bridge on SH50A.

There were no injuries.

Police were also called to a non-injury "nose to tail" crash on SH2 south of Hastings about 2.30pm on Sunday.

Two further crashes were reported over the weekend.

A young female was driving towards Ocean Beach at about 3.30pm yesterday when she lost control on a corner.

She suffered minor injuries in the crash.

The Lowe Rescue Helicopter completed an early morning mission yesterday to aid a 41-year-old female with serious injuries suffered in a car accident near Wairoa.

She was flown from Wairoa Hospital to Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital for further treatment. She remained in a critical condition last night.

According to data released by the New Zealand Transport Agency, as of May 25 there had been 135 road deaths in New Zealand so far this year, with 7 of these in Hawke's Bay and Gisborne.