KEY POINTS:
Stevie Ray Marks will be laid to rest today as the small community of Matata calls for safer roads after her death in an alleged hit-and-run.
The 15-year-old Edgecumbe College student was killed on Tuesday night when an alleged drink driver ploughed into her and her two cousins, Velvet Marks and Darcy Stoneham.
Court documents showed 22-year-old driver Karma Jasmine McIvor's breath alcohol was almost twice the legal alcohol limit.
A funeral service is to be held at Matata's Rangitihi Marae at 11am for Stevie Ray who, her friends say, was named after American blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and had a smiling, bubbly nature.
Yesterday, about 160 students from Edgecumbe College came to pay their respects, the girls performing waiata and the boys doing a spontaneous haka.
As her body lay in state at the marae, family spokesman Rev Paora Hunia called for tougher assessments on young people wanting to get a driver's licence.
"They are able to obtain a licence for a vehicle and drive it around like a loaded gun," he said.
Stringent conditions similar to those needed to obtain a firearm's licence could prevent some of the carnage on the roads by ensuring that young people driving were up to the task.
Mr Hunia, an elder in the Matata community, said other issues had also been raised in the days since Stevie Ray's death.
One was a lack of footpaths and another was cars failing to slow down when when they left 100km/h zones around the town.
Teenagers also had little to do in Matata at night and often wandered down to the beach or through the streets.
"It's an issue that's felt through a lot of rural towns," Mr Hunia said.
The problem of few footpaths had gone unresolved since the devastating floods and landslides of 2005.
Stevie Ray's cousin, Acacia Hawaikirangi, admitted that many teenagers walked on the roads, often to avoid the prickles on the grass verges.
Adel Kerrison, who lives in Mair St where Stevie Ray died, called for more action to stop cars speeding through Matata's 50km/h residential zones.
It is not known how fast the vehicle that hit Stevie Ray and her cousins was travelling, but Mr Hunia said her family was devastated by "the tragic way" she died.
His thoughts were also with the family of the driver.
"They will be under a lot of pain and suffering," he said. McIvor, a saleswoman, is facing four charges, including drink-driving causing death.
She lives in a rented house on a farm in Te Teko, near Whakatane, with her boyfriend, who is an engineer.
The farm owner said she had lived in the house for about a year. Her parents lived in Australia.
Darcy, meanwhile, remains in Tauranga Hospital in a stable condition. She received a broken leg and head injuries, but a scan has revealed no serious damage.
Velvet, also known as Reko, was knocked unconscious but discharged from Whakatane Hospital the following day.
She told the Herald she was hit by the back of the car and the next thing she remembered was waking up in hospital.
"I didn't even know what happened."
