Tributes to Julianna Hickey, Sharrisse Perawiti and Anahera Tienda Kaa in Takapau following a fatal crash on November 26. Photo / Paul Taylor
Tributes to Julianna Hickey, Sharrisse Perawiti and Anahera Tienda Kaa in Takapau following a fatal crash on November 26. Photo / Paul Taylor
A 17-year high in road fatalities in Central Hawke's Bay has contributed to Hawke's Bay's deadliest year in a decade.
According to provisional statistics, 25 people died in 2020 from crashes on roads in the Hawke's Bay Today circulation area from Wairoa to Tararua, one more than in 2019 andthe highest in the region since the 27 in 2010.
Most significantly, the 21 fatalities in the Hawke's Bay police area of Napier, Hastings and Central Hawke's Bay is three more than 2019, and equalling the 21 of 2006 and 2007, the highest since 29 in that area in 2005.
While Napier's toll of nine is one down on the 30-year high of 10 in 2019, tolls in both the Hastings and Central Hawke's Bay districts increased.
The Hastings toll of seven was its worst since eight in 2015, and the five in Central Hawke's Bay was that district's worst in 17 years, blown out by the deaths of three Dannevirke teenagers in a single Takapau Plains crash on November 26 - the biggest loss of life in a single Hawke's Bay crash since two tragedies each claimed four lives between Napier and Wairoa in 2012.
The latest tallies are part of a provisional 2020 national toll of 320, the third lowering of the toll since the 378 in 2017, but still perplexing police, Ministry of Transport and other road safety interests after the low traffic flows of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Also, the half-century lows of 253 nationwide and six across Hawke's Bay in 2013 are now a distant memory.
The latest of the 25 fatalities across the Hawke's Bay districts was near Pahiatua in the Tararua district on Tuesday morning, one of nine in the December 24-January 5 national Christmas-New Year holiday road toll period - already more than double the four recorded over the period last year.
The provincial tally includes three motorcyclists (for the third year in a row), nine were drivers, seven were passengers, four were pedestrians, and the status of two were still to be confirmed.
State highways claimed 15 of the victims, four of them among the eight who were killed on State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupō in the seven months up to the end of June.
The Dannevirke teenagers were among eight victims under the age of 24, just one of them aged under 15. A further six were aged between 25 and 39, nine were over the age of 40, and the ages of two were unconfirmed publicly.
David Rains, 60, died when his bike crashed into a trailer on State Highway 2, near Waipawa, on October 11. Photo / Vhoycreative
One of the motorcyclists that died this year was David Keith Rains.
The 60-year-old died when his bike crashed into a trailer on State Highway 2, near Waipawa, on October 11.
His widow, Sue, said not a day goes by without breaking down over the death of her husband.
"This time of year is especially hard for me, with people posting things online, sharing pictures," she said. "Everybody is still grieving. I never even got the chance to say goodbye, or give that final kiss goodbye."
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency regional transport systems manager Oliver Postings said work continues on an extensive programme of road repairs and resurfacing on state highways throughout the summer.
Julianna Hickey, 18, Sharrisse Perawiti, 18, and Anahera Tienda Kaa, 17, were killed after their car collided with a truck on SH2 on November 26. Photo / Supplied
Transport agency general manager safety, health and environment Greg Lazzaro said 3200 people have died in crashes on New Zealand roads in the last 10 years, and an estimated 23,000 injured.
