Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

One dead in horror day on region's roads

By Sam Hurley and APNZ
Hawkes Bay Today·
2 Jan, 2014 07:13 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A head-on crash killing a motorcyclist on the Napier-Taihape Rd yesterday brought the Christmas-New Year holiday period road toll to seven, during a horrific day of vehicle accidents in Hawke's Bay.

Police said the rider died after being involved in a crash with a ute at 12.55pm in the Rangitikei River area, 30km east of SH1.

St John Heretaunga territory manager Brendan Hutchinson said the 52-year-old rider was hit "head on" by a car.

The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter airlifted the man, who was in a critical condition, to Hawke's Bay Hospital where he later died.

The road was closed for a several hours following the crash.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The motorcyclist's death came on a shockingly brutal day for the region, in which several others are battling for survival. Throughout the day, the region's emergency services were stretched to their limits with the high number of casualties, forcing rescue helicopter crews from throughout the North Island to scramble to Hawke's Bay.

Taranaki Rescue Helicopter pilot Mike Parker said his crew responded to a 15-year-old youth who fell from a trail bike at Pourerere Beach at about 1pm, just moments after the fatal motorcycle crash along the Napier-Taihape Rd.

"We were down in Wellington when we got the call to come up to the beach near Waipukurau, because all other crews were already flying missions."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said the teenager appeared to have fallen from his bike while riding along the beach but had only minor injuries. A hospital spokeswoman last night said the boy was in a stable condition.

The New Plymouth-based rescue crew was forced to transfer their 15-year-old patient to an ambulance after they received another mission to transport a critical heart-attack patient near Waipukurau.

"I never thought I'd be in the Bay on a mission - it was an incredibly busy day with all the accidents," Mr Parker said.

Along with Hawke's Bay's Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter and the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter, the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter from Taupo and Bay Trust Rescue Helicopter from Rotorua were also launched to respond to Hawke's Bay accidents yesterday.

Later on the day, a male motorcyclist "came off his bike" along the Napier-Taupo Rd.

Mr Hutchinson said the rider's injuries were mild to moderate.

The holiday road toll period, which finishes tomorrow at 6am, began 4pm on Christmas Eve.

Last year, six people died during the period on New Zealand roads.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Family ties as Joe Helmore art features in HB auction

Premium
Opinion

Elastic is anything but trivial: Wyn Drabble

Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Family ties as Joe Helmore art features in HB auction
Hawkes Bay Today

Family ties as Joe Helmore art features in HB auction

Artist follows in his grandmother's footsteps to craft a piece for Bay wine auction.

17 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Premium
Elastic is anything but trivial: Wyn Drabble
Opinion

Elastic is anything but trivial: Wyn Drabble

17 Jul 06:00 PM
Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay
Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

17 Jul 06:02 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP