Two dead, several injured in crashes on Hawke’s Bay roads over weekend

Police were called to two separate fatal crashes within three hours on one night. Photo / Sunlive

Two people have died and several more have been injured in crashes on roads in Hawke’s Bay over the weekend.

It took the number of fatalities in the wider Hawke’s Bay area to four in four days.

With 16 fatalities now recorded from Tararua to Wairoa since the beginning of 2025, the annual road toll is two-thirds of the way to being the worst year on Hawke’s Bay roads in a decade.

The weekend’s carnage began when emergency services were called to a crash involving a truck and a car on State Highway 50 by Roys Hill at about 11.15am on Saturday.

Hato Hone St John transported three patients, one in a serious condition and two in moderate conditions, to Hawke’s Bay Hospital.

SH50 was closed near Ngatarawa Road from 2.30pm to 5.10pm while a tow truck attended the scene.

At about 4.50pm, two people were seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash on Pōrangahau Rd, Wanstead.

A medical helicopter was called to the scene.

Then at about 1.05am on Sunday, one person died at the scene of a single-vehicle crash on Kopu Rd in Wairoa. The Serious Crash Unit attended and inquiries are ongoing.

Three hours later, at about 4.05am, one person died at the scene of a single-vehicle crash in Racecourse Rd, Waipawa.

The Serious Crash Unit examined the scene and inquiries are ongoing.

According to online Ministry of Transport statistics, there had by midnight on Sunday been 16 fatalities in 16 separate crashes this year across the five local authority areas in the Hawke’s Bay Today circulation area, from Wairoa to Tararua.

They include nine in just over six weeks since April 4, five in the past month and four in the past week.

Of the deaths, 11 of the 16 resulted from incidents in daylight hours.

It continued a worsening January 1-May 19 trend. The total compared with five in 2021, six in 2022, nine in 2023 and eight last year.

The high 12-month annual tolls in the area in the last decade were 24 in 2020, 23 in 2019 and 22 in 2017.

The national toll of 125 was also 18 up on last year’s total of 107 to May 19, the second-highest to date in the last five years.

Hawke’s Bay road policing co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Craig Vining said there had been a number of different factors contributing to the incidents over the last two months.

Inquiries continue, but each had at least one contributing factor from the list of excess speed, driver drugs or alcohol impairment, driving while distracted, and not wearing restraints.

“These crashes have a ripple effect in the community, affecting other motorists, witnesses and the people who are first on the scene,” he said.

He also highlighted the impact on people’s families and friends.

“We do need to ensure that we continue to impart key messages to motorists on our roads: Slow down, don’t drive impaired and make good judgment calls - your life literally depends on it.”