Four fatal crashes in one week in Northland; speed and no seatbelt factors

The aftermath of the crash in Taipa last Tuesday, where the driver of a ute left the road and crashed into a parked car. Photo / Supplied

Road safety experts are calling for people to wear their seatbelts and slow down after four fatal crashes in Northland in one week.

The latest fatality on the region's roads was a motorcyclist who was killed in a crash in Nukutawhiti late on Saturday afternoon.

On Thursday evening, there were two fatal crashes within just a few hours, one in Kaitāia and one in Ōkaihau.

There was another crash in Taipa on Tuesday last week, in which one person was killed and another moderately injured.

Northland road policing manager Inspector Anne-Marie Fitchett said speed was suspected in at least two of the crashes in the last week and there was no seatbelt worn in one.

"We need to wear our seatbelts, we need to stick to the speed limits and drive to the conditions. If it's wet, slow down.

"It's really simple stuff that you learn when you first start driving but somewhere along the way we get complacent about our driving."

Police have officers out monitoring speed and a District Impairment Team is now based in Kaitāia to target drivers using alcohol and drugs in the Far North, Fitchett said.

"We've got a whole lot of people out there 24/7 but this is about what we all accept as a community.

"When are we going to say enough is enough and do something about our driving?"

Kaitāia Volunteer Fire Brigade senior station officer Colin Kitchen, who has been a volunteer firefighter for 54 years, said crashes have changed over the years.

Faster vehicles and roads, as well as an increase in the number of cars, had resulted in more collisions, he said.

"Within the [Kaitāia] volunteer fire brigade, probably about a third of all calls are to motor vehicle crashes now.

Kaitaia Volunteer Fire Brigade senior station officer Colin Kitchen. Photo / Peter de Graaf

"More times than not they're quite traumatic and cars just fold up now."

Lack of restraint, impairment and excessive speed were major factors in serious crashes, Kitchen said.

"The biggest thing is people not wearing seatbelts and, of course, alcohol and drugs.

"There are also a lot of impatient people on the roads now. I was driving the other day in a 60km/h area and about three cars went past me. They were doing about 120km/h, double the speed limit."

These crashes have a major effect on the community and the firefighters who attend, who often know the victims, he said.

Northland road safety advocate John Williamson said the focus should be on educating people about road safety one on one, rather than spending money on media campaigns.

"It's a one-on-one type of message that you try to get to people who then are able to influence others as to what they need to do to make roads safer. But it's not something that happens overnight."

Williamson said alcohol impairment, excessive speed and not wearing seatbelts were the major factors in serious crashes.

"Not being restrained accounts for 30 to 40 per cent of our fatalities. It's often not wearing a seatbelt that kills people."

Last week's crashes brought Northland's road toll to 15. The Taipa crash was the first fatality on the region's roads in June.

Speed was a factor in that crash, which happened when the driver of a ute failed to take a slight bend in the road and hit a parked car.

Senior Constable Warren Bunn, of the Serious Crash Unit, said it could have been a double fatality if the driver of the parked car had not been fully inside his vehicle and still wearing a seatbelt.

Two vehicles were involved in the Kaitāia crash, and in the Ōkaihau crash, which was a head-on collision.

The motorcycle crash in Nukutawhiti, which happened shortly before 5pm on Saturday, did not appear to involve any other vehicles.