Police Eastern District road policing manager inspector, Matt Broderick, said motorists can expect a high police presence on SH5 over Labour Weekend. Photo / File
Police Eastern District road policing manager inspector, Matt Broderick, said motorists can expect a high police presence on SH5 over Labour Weekend. Photo / File
Police and highways managers Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency are appealing for special care on the Napier-Taupō Road this holiday weekend, with the 125km stretch recording its highest annual road toll in more than a decade.
According to statistics provided by NZTA to Hawke's Bay Today, the death of 37-year-oldSamoan national Tino Tagiilima, after the vehicle he was a passenger in and a truck-and-trailer collided at SH5's halfway-point Tarawera on Monday, was the fifth on the road this year.
It's one more than the four credited in road crash statistics for last year, two-each in two crashes last December and meaning there have been nine fatalities on the road in just 11 months.
The next highest tolls on the road in the last decade were three, in 2012, 2015 and 2017.
More historically, there were occasional double-digit annual tolls on the highway, including 1995 when eight were killed in a single crash, a house bus plunging through a bridge rail and falling 50 metres into the Mohaka River, between Te Pohue and Te Haroto, and 1999, when six were killed in a summer holidays crash on the Rangitaiki Plains.
A collision between a van and truck on State Highway 5, Tarawera, resulted in one death on Monday. Photo / Paul Taylor
The figures, specifically for the road from the SH5 from Eskdale to Wairakei, are compared with those for the linked 145km of SH1 from Wairakei to Hamilton, which had 13 fatalities last year - including eight in one crash near Atiamuri, and that stretch's decade-high of 17 in 2017.
Over the 10 years there have been 22 fatalities between Eskdale and Wairakei, but 78 between Wairakei and Hamilton.
The highest in the last 10 years on the 72km of SH5 from Wairakei to Rotorua was three in 2014, the statistics reveal.
As a result of growing concerns about the Napier-Taupō Road, police have determined to have at least one patrol on the Hawke's Bay sector of the highway at any time in daylight hours, with a similar commitment from Bay of Plenty region police in its sector.
Police Eastern District road policing manager, Inspector Matt Broderick, highlighted the "blip" aspect of the statistics. While the provisional national toll of 250 is 20 down on the total to October 21 last year, the total is up in Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu-Whanganui and Wellington, a total of 52 compared with 38 last year.
The total in Hawke's Bay was up from 16 to 19, and Broderick said: "If national, then why not Hawke's Bay?"
"Looking at statistics, the crash numbers are about the same, but it's about the outcome," reflecting that in the last 12 months three crashes had each had two fatalities, and that Monday's crash, from which a 19-year-old driver remained in a serious condition in Wellington Hospital's ICU, and three other men remained in hospital in stable conditions, was only "millimetres" from having no fatalities to being a much greater "carnage."
Broderick said councils and other authorities are reviewing speed limits "up and down the country", including those on the Napier-Taupō highway, where motorists can expect to see a police patrol presence throughout the long weekend.
Comparing it with other areas needed to be in context, he said, but reiterated the need to drive to conditions by saying Napier-Taupō is a "really challenging road."
Holiday traffic queued after a crash on State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupō. Photo / File
In an appeal ahead of the four-day Hawke's Bay Anniversary and Labour Day weekend holiday, authorities pleaded with motorists to plan ahead, slow down, and drive to the conditions.
The conditions include everything from the weather and visibility, to the nature of the road, to the traffic, which even on holiday weekends can include large numbers of trucks highlighted by well over 100 truck and trailer units being in queues either side of Monday's crash scene as the highway was closed for more than six hours.
Regional transport systems manager Oliver Postings said, in an NZTA media release, roads in and out of Hawke's Bay, including State Highway 2 north and south, as well as routes to coastal destinations are "likely to be very busy before and during the long weekend, especially on State Highway 5."
"We want everyone to arrive at their destination safely this weekend, so it's important that we all play our part to keep our roads safe," he said.
"Watch your speed, keep a safe following distance, be patient and take regular breaks."
Heaviest traffic is expected to be into Hawke's Bay on SH5 on Saturday between 10am and 1pm, and out of the region on Sunday between 10am and 12pm.
"Leaving at non-peak hours can make travel safer and more enjoyable, so we encourage everyone to check out our holiday journeys map which shows predicted traffic flow across popular journeys over the Labour Day weekend based on previous years travel patterns."
