Two people have died and a woman is in a critical condition following a crash between two vehicles on State Highway 5 near Te Pohue on Saturday afternoon. Photo / Geoff Martin
Two people have died and a woman is in a critical condition following a crash between two vehicles on State Highway 5 near Te Pohue on Saturday afternoon. Photo / Geoff Martin
Napier nurse Tracey Martin is still reeling after being one of many parties who assisted victims of a crash that claimed two lives on Saturday.
Two people died and a woman in her 50s remains in a critical condition following an accident described by a paramedic on the scene as "horrific" on State Highway 5 about 3.15pm.
The road was closed after police were alerted to the crash, just north of Te Pohue Loop Rd, and reopened only at 10pm that day.
Martin was travelling with her husband on their way back to Napier when they came across the crash and quickly offered to help.
She said that her friend, a paramedic, was one of the first called to the scene and said the accident was "quite horrific".
"The paramedics who first arrived at the scene went to the car that was heading towards Napier, then focused on the woman in the other vehicle which was heading towards Taupo," she said.
"The work that the emergency services did was exceptional though; being able to free her from the vehicle and get her on the helicopter to hospital took all of 40 minutes."
Hawke's Bay Police Inspector Dean Clifford says motorists heading back on roads after lockdown need to be extra vigilant. Photo / File
She said her friend claimed the crash occurred with one car losing control at the Te Pohue bend and crossing to the other side of the road before the collision.
For Martin and her husband, who is a truck driver, they know the Napier-Taupo road quite well and said that the stretch, especially at that section, is "very unforgiving" and a "brutal piece of road.
"That section is already bad but with the rain that was around it would have made it even worse."
The tragedy came just a day after local truckie Antony Alexander slammed the Government for doing little more than what he claimed were "Band-Aid" roadworks on SH5.
There are no capital works for the road in any of the NZ Transport Agency's future plans.
Before Saturday's crash, five had died on the road since the start of December, including 21-year-old Aniwaniwa Kenrick from Hastings, who Alexander came across shortly that incident.
Hawke's Bay Police Inspector Dean Clifford said it was terrible to see not only Saturday's crash occur but also the spate of crashes that have occurred across Hawke's Bay since the country's lockdown has been eased.
"For most people they wouldn't have driven much over the last 5-6 weeks so we just ask that people take that extra bit of care and vigilance while on the road," he said.
"People should also be vigilant of not only their own driving but also the conditions and the environment with the seasonal change will bring wetter roads and also people are getting out more on their bikes or walking down the street."
Clifford said with people able to get more freedom and maybe travel out of town and further afield to visit family and friends just to be extra care and know their own limits because "we want people to get to where they want to go".
