One dead after Central Hawke’s Bay crash on State Highway 50

Police on Monday afternoon had yet to reveal any further details about a single-vehicle crash that left one person dead in Central Hawke’s Bay on Sunday.

Police said the accident happened on State Highway 50 just north of Tikokino about 12.10pm on Sunday and the victim died at the scene.

The secondary route between Napier and Central Hawke’s Bay, SH50 was closed for about three hours between Butler Rd, north of Tikokino, and Whakapirau Rd, south of Maraekakaho, after the crash.

The national road toll for the year on Sunday night was provisionally at 204, without the addition of the Tikokino incident, according to provisional online Ministry of Transport statistics.

It was up by 26 on last year’s January-August figure of 178, but below the eight-month totals of 212 in 2021, 230 in 2022, and 225 in 2023.

The road toll for August, at 16, was the lowest in at least five years.

There had been 18 fatalities from Wairoa to Tararua in the year-to-date, including six in the Hastings District and four in Central Hawke’s Bay.