A local man in his early 20s has become the latest to lose his life on Northland roads, following a string of fatalities that could have been avoided if drivers had worn their seatbelts.
Police said one person died following a single-car crash on the Karikari Peninsula in the Far North during the early hours of Sunday morning.
Emergency services were called to the intersection of State Highway 10 and Inland Rd, Lake Ohia, about 2.55am.
Police serious crash investigator Senior Constable Jeff Cramp said the sole occupant of the car, a 23-year-old man, died at the scene.
“He came straight down off Inland Rd, straight across the highway, into the bank.”
Cramp said it was too early to say whether drugs or alcohol were involved, and inquiries into the circumstances of the crash were ongoing.
But the man wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, a common factor in many recent fatal crashes, he said.
A 34-year-old driver who died after his vehicle hit a tree on August 15 on Mangakahia Rd in Tautoro, near Kaikohe, had “jammed something” in the belt buckle, Cramp said. The passenger in the car, also in his 30s, died at the scene as well.
And the Tikipunga woman who was killed after her car crashed through a fence on Whareora Rd and landed in a creek on July 14 “had her seatbelt pulled around the back of the driver seat and buckled in”, Cramp said.
“It’s not uncommon … young people sitting on their seatbelts. They plug it in so they don’t get that chiming noise.
“Some people, they don’t want to be told what to do.
“The other complacency is they don’t think they’ll crash so they don’t think they need to wear one, or they think the car has got airbags and [so] they’ll be safe.”
Cramp’s comments come during a police campaign to crack down on drivers not wearing seatbelts in the Mid and Far North.
Officers were deployed to 14 checkpoints at various townships last week, including Kaikohe, Paihia, Kāeo, Houhora, Russell, Rawene, Opononi, and “multiple checkpoints” in Kerikeri and Kaitāia.
Kaitāia sergeant Nigel Turnbull said the focus was on drink-driving, seatbelts, cellphones and licences.
Police issued nearly two dozen tickets in just two hours to drivers not wearing seatbelts in Houhora and Kaitāia last Friday, Turnbull said.
“A handful” of tickets were issued to motorists without seatbelts in Rawene.
“We get a lot of people coming through with no seatbelts and no licences,” Turnbull said.
“A big part of it is education.”
The fatal crash at Lake Ohia follows a weekend of tragedies on New Zealand roads, with fatalities in separate crashes in Abel Tasman National Park and Te Aroha.
One person was found dead at the site of a single-vehicle crash in Abel Tasman National Park on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, two people died after a crash on SH26 at Te Aroha, and another two were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Cramp’s advice to motorists: “Don’t drink and drive or speed.”
“Wear a seatbelt, and don’t be driving around at night unless you’ve got a purpose for it.
“At those hours of the morning, unless you’ve got a job or an early morning fishing trip, the best place to be is at home.”
oOfficers were deployed t14 checkpoints at various townships last week, including Kaikohe, Paihia, Kāeo, Houhora, Russell, Rawene, Opononi, and “multiple checkpoints” in Kerikeri and Kaitāia.