Eastern District road policing manager Inspector Angela Hallett, whose area doesn’t include Dannevirke and the Tararua District, said the serious crash unit has been kept extremely busy attending and investigating the crashes.
“After the initial attendance at crashes, a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to understand the contributing factors to each crash, with the ultimate aim of preventing further tragedies occurring,” Hallett said.
“The analysis is provided to the Coroner and we also work with our partner agencies and territorial authorities to identify risks that can be addressed through changes in roading design.”
She said road policing staff continue to deploy to highways and rural roads, focusing enforcement on four key factors to prevent death and serious injury.
On the radar are restraints (use of seatbelts and appropriate car seats), impairment (drugs and alcohol distraction), cellphone use and speeding, the biggest risk in Hawke’s Bay.
Police aim to have motorists reduce the mean level of speeds on our roads.
“Remember people make mistakes,” she said. “Take your time to ensure you and your passengers wear seatbelts and that littlies are restrained in age-appropriate car seats. Remove distractions, silence phones. Drive to the conditions. Ensure your vehicle is roadworthy and has a current warrant of fitness.”
She urged better travel planning before hitting the highways, using www.nzta.govt.nz to keep informed, allowing extra time for delays from the roads under repair, and to “drive courteously as if those around you on the roads are your own family”.
“Slow down around schools, and take extra care near crossings,” Hallett said.
To help investigations into how crashes have happened, police appreciate follow-up information from the public which can be done by calling 105 or online at www.police.govt.nz.
The fatalities in the last two months, including three on State Highway 2 but none on SH51 nor SH5 (the Napier-Taupō road that claimed eight lives in 2019-2020). On December 15 a man died after a motorbike and another vehicle collided on State Highway 2, near Oringi (south of Dannevirke).
A man died when the vehicle he was driving hit another vehicle on a rural road near Hastings the next morning, and a 33-year-old Canadian woman was killed in a crash involving two vehicles near the intersection of State Highway 50 and Maraekakaho Rd, west of Hastings, brought the 2023 road toll for Wairoa, Napier Hastings, Central Hawke’s Bay and Tararua to 18, one more than in 2022.
The first death of the new year was that of a motorcyclist who hit a parked truck in Kennedy Rd, Napier, on January 22.
The following week two people died, a woman on a mobility scooter in Hastings and a motorcyclist from injuries received in a collision on State Highway 2 near Te Hauke, south of Hastings. This month another motorcyclist died in a Waitangi Day crash on Route 52 near Alfredton in the southern area of the Tararua District.
Two people died in separate crashes in the Napier area last Friday and Sunday.
Nationally, the road toll is similar to previous years. According to provisional Ministry of Transport figures, there have been 45 fatalities nationwide this year, compared with 40 in the same period of last year, and 45 to February 13 in 2022.
Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 50 years of journalism experience in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.
