By Sahiban Hyde and Doug Laing
At least five people are in hospital with injuries from three separate crashes on Hawke's Bay roads in less than 24 hours since early Wednesday evening.
They included two teenagers in critical condition, and another person in serious condition, almost 24 hours after a two-vehicle crash on prolific crash-strip York Rd, Hastings, at about 5.40pm on Wednesday.
Two others also taken to hospital after the crash between York Rd's intersections with the Hawke's Bay Expressway and Maraekakaho Rd were reported to have been treated and discharged.
The crash was at least the third resulting significant injury on the stretch of road in the last 10 weeks. The speed limit had been lowered from 100kmh to 80kmh after a Hastings District Council speed limits by-law review in 2018, and a man had been killed in a crash on the same stretch a year earlier.