East Taupō Arterial claims two lives in July school holidays

There were two fatal accidents last week on the East Taupō Arterial. Photo / File

Two people died within three days on the East Taupō Arterial (ETA) last week.

A local woman was killed on Tuesday after her vehicle went off the road near the intersection of Centennial Drive and the ETA. The crashed happened around 10.35am, closing the northbound on-ramp until 8.25pm that evening.

Recent safety improvements to this section of the road have included work at the on-ramps and the installation of safety wire between the lanes.

On Thursday a person died after their northbound vehicle crossed the centre line and crashed into an oncoming vehicle on SH1 at Wairakei. The crash happened between the power station overpass and the bridge over the Waikato River. This section of the highway is quite narrow and there is no safety wire between the lanes.

Both crashes are still under investigation and road policing manager Senior Sergeant Jason Henderson says the police extend their condolences to loved ones.

On Monday this week, there was a fatality on Napier Taupō SH5 near Tarawera after three vehicles crashed. In February the speed limit on this stretch of road was lowered from 100km/h to 80km/h.

Henderson says there was a high volume of traffic on the Taupō roads because of the school holidays. He says motorists should always wear a seatbelt, drive to the conditions, avoid distractions, be well rested and fresh.

"My best advice for driving safely in the school holidays when there is lots of traffic is to drive with the flow of traffic. Don't rush, there's no need to overtake as it generally won't get you any further ahead."