'Tis the season to be jolly and the season to be careful. In the first part of our holiday road safety series, KELLY MAKIHA talks to a man who lost a son and ex-partner in a car crash close to Christmas.
At only 23 George Imms has lost his
driver's licence four times for speeding.
But it won't happen again.
Next week, it will be a year since George's 11-month-old son Nathan and former girlfriend Sharon Tawhara died in a crash south of Rotorua.
The accident was on State Highway 5, just south of Waipa Mill.
Witnesses have said Sharon's car and another vehicle had been speeding before the crash.
The driver of the other car involved has been charged with illegal street racing causing death.
George's other son Alex was in the car.
The then two-year-old survived the crash with serious leg injuries.
George and Sharon had separated six months before she died but were on good terms.
George said reports they had argued before she headed south to her Taupo home were not true.
It was Saturday, December 30, at midday when George saw Sharon for the last time.
The crash happened at 6.45pm that day.
The first George heard of it was when Sharon's brother, Todd, knocked on his door at 2am.
"He said they had been in a crash and Nathan and Sharon didn't make it."
George could not believe what he was hearing.
It was a total shock.
Alex remembers "my mummy and my Nathan" but doesn't understand what happened.
His leg injuries have healed, leaving his right knee bowed and both legs scarred.
"I have told him the truth," George said.
"It is better you know the truth now and then grow up knowing what happened.
"He has pictures of them in his room."
George now lives with his new partner Nikita and Alex on a dairy farm near Rotorua.
He admits in the past he has "done a few tricks" on the roads.
He has lost his licence for three months three times for exceeding demerit points after being caught speeding.
He also lost it for six months after being caught doing 130km/h on Rangiuru St, behind Lakeside Novotel Rotorua.
He said the tragedy has slowed him down and made him a more sensible driver.
"I have got [Alex] and Nikita now so of course I'm going to slow down.
"You just never know what can happen."
His message to drivers desperate to get past someone else on the roads - wait for the passing lanes.
"If you want to speed and kill yourself, go ahead - but think of others.
"If you have to pass, use passing lanes. That's why they built them."
What makes the tragedy harder to take is that Nathan had fought so hard in his short life to stay alive after being diagnosed with a hole in his heart.
He had to undergo invasive heart surgery and a blood transfusion at 5 months of age.
Seeing the effect on his son's little body was hard for George to take.
He predicts the one-year anniversary of the crash will be particularly hard.
He copes by thinking about Alex.
"Life has to go on.
"You can't bring them back."
'Tis the season to be jolly and the season to be careful. In the first part of our holiday road safety series, KELLY MAKIHA talks to a man who lost a son and ex-partner in a car crash close to Christmas.
At only 23 George Imms has lost his
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