Motorbike passenger killed in collision

A 60-year-old woman died at the scene of a head-on crash between a car and the motorcycle on which she was a pillion passenger at the foot of the Karikari Peninsula shortly before 5pm on Tuesday.

She was Anne Eileen Tomkinson, a tourist from the United Kingdom.

The 47-year-old local man who was in control of the Harley Davidson was flown to Whangarei Hospital by rescue helicopter with serious injuries, and a 54-year-old female passenger in the car was taken to Kaitaia Hospital by ambulance. Her injuries were not confirmed yesterday but were not believed to be serious.

The 59-year-old man who was driving the car was not hurt.

The Serious Crash Unit arrived from Whangarei later in the day to conduct a scene examination and to begin the investigation, but a local police spokesman said it appeared that the driver of the car, a visitor from France, had crossed the one-lane bridge from State Highway 10 on to Inland Road, then travelled north in the right-hand lane. The crash occurred only a few hundred metres further north, as the car rounded an easy right-hand bend.

The road was closed for more than an hour, although one lane was opened for short periods to clear the backlog of vehicles.

Emergency services from Kaitaia and Doubtless Bay responded to the crash, firefighters and St John crews working for some time to extricate the injured woman from the wreckage of the car. The rescue helicopter arrived before she had been freed, landing in a paddock across the road.

The crash prompted an undertaking from Kaitaia's Chief Fire Officer (and Far North District councillor) Colin Kitchen to promote the painting of arrows in the left-hand lanes of important tourist routes.

We're getting too many of these crashes, and they almost always seem to involve visitors who are used to driving on the right," he said.

"This [Inland] road leads to a major tourist destination, and is a prime example of where arrows are needed."

Mr Kitchen stood to be corrected but believed that arrows had been painted immediately north of the bridge, but had been obliterated when the road was re-sealed. Whatever the case, he would be calling for arrows to be painted now.

State Highway 10 at both ends of the single-lane bridge at Taipa and Kerikeri's Wairoa Road were two more that should have arrows for the benefit of tourists, he added.