Dannevirke crashes end official holiday period: no Hawke's Bay road deaths

Emergency services were called to a crash around 12.35pm yesterday, west of Waipukurau along State Highway 2, near the intersection of Maharakeke Rd. Photo / Paul Taylor

west of Waipukurau along State Highway 2, near the intersection of Maharakeke Rd. Photo / Paul Taylor

Last night was a busy one for emergency services on Dannevirke roads as a car crashing into a ditch and another bursting into flames ended the official holiday road period.

Thursday's busy night started at 4.30pm along State Highway 2 near the intersection of Centre Rd, north of Dannevirke, where police were called out after a car crashed into a ditch.

Fire and St John were also called to the scene. There were no injuries reported, but one person was taken to a nearby medical centre for an assessment.

Police were called out later that night to another one-vehicle crash which led to the vehicle bursting into flames.

Emergency services were called to the scene around 11.15pm in Allan St in Dannevirke.

On arrival, the car had burst in to flames but fire crews managed to extinguish the blaze before it got out of hand.

No injuries were reported and everyone in the vehicle managed to get out after the crash.

The crashes followed a three-car crash at 12.35pm on Thursday outside the Waipukurau Golf Club.

Initial reports suggested three people were taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital but it is now understood seven people were treated at the hospital in relation to the crash, six of whom were transported via ambulance.

Two women remain in hospital care, one under the age of 15 and the other in her 20s. Both are in stable conditions.

The string of crashes brought an end to the Christmas and New Year period for the region. There were no deaths on Hawke's Bay roads over the official holiday period.

It was a different story around the rest of the country. Six people were killed on New Zealand roads over the official Christmas and New Year holiday period - three fewer than the same time last year.

The official holiday road toll period started at 4pm on Christmas Eve and ended at 6am today.

Superintendent Sandra Venables said while the fewer deaths for 2019 was good news, the wish was that no lives were lost at all. Photo / File

Superintendent Sandra Venables, assistant commissioner for road policing, said while the fewer deaths for 2019 was good news, the wish was that no lives were lost at all.

"It is promising to see, after years of death and serious injuries increasing on New Zealand roads, it is starting to turn around," she said.

"But this number is still no comfort to the people who have lost loved ones on our roads.

"We will continue to focus on the factors we know contribute to people dying on our roads. These are not wearing restraints, being impaired or distracted, and speed."

She said police would continue their high presence and high activity on the roads and would be looking out for people undertaking risky behaviour and putting themselves or others at risk.

"So if you don't want to meet us at the roadside or at your crash site, please do these simple things: wear your seatbelt, put your phone away out of reach, don't be distracted by other things going on in the vehicle, and always drive sober and alert and within the posted speed limit," Venables said.

"This also means driving to the conditions, whether that's traffic, weather, or our rural roads, and watch your following distances. This is for your, and everyone else's, protection."