ACCIDENT: Emergency services clean up after the Kapiro Rd crash which saw two adults and a young girl taken to hospital. PHOTO/PETER DE GRAAF
ACCIDENT: Emergency services clean up after the Kapiro Rd crash which saw two adults and a young girl taken to hospital. PHOTO/PETER DE GRAAF
A 6-year-old girl was among three people injured when a ute and an orchard sprayer collided near Kerikeri.
The accident occurred on Kapiro Rd, off State Highway 10, just before 6pm on Thursday. Both vehicles ended up on the wrong side of the road. The ute was significantly damaged, policesay.
Three people in the ute - a man, a woman and the girl - were taken to Bay of Islands Hospital in Kawakawa by St John Ambulance.
Their injuries included suspected fractures and bruising. The child was knocked unconscious and originally assessed as being in a serious condition. That was later downgraded to moderate. The sprayer driver was uninjured.
Inspector Al Symonds, of Kerikeri police, said the investigation was continuing and it appeared the orchard sprayer was turning right into a Kerifresh depot as the ute passed. It was possible the driver of ute had not seen the sprayer because it was lower than other vehicles. However, in a rural area like Kerikeri, drivers need to be alert to sprayers, tractors and stock trucks, and pass them with caution, he said.
Kerikeri firefighters, who had just returned to the station from a house fire caused by a stray firework, helped manage traffic and cleaned up spilt oil. Traffic was reduced to one lane.
Kapiro Rd has seen a number of serious accidents and regular calls from residents for a reduction in the speed limit from 100km/h to 80. The most recent attempt, in August last year, was rejected by the Far North District Council on the recommendation of a traffic engineer.
