Baby girl fourth to die over holiday weekend

By STUART DYE transport reporter

The Labour Weekend road toll rose to four last night after a 2-week-old girl died when the van she was in rolled in the eastern Bay of Plenty.

Whakatane police said the crash happened on State Highway 2 at Matata, 23km northwest of Whakatane, about 6.20pm.

Three other children were airlifted to Tauranga Hospital by helicopter after the crash and the adults in the van were taken by ambulance to Whakatane Hospital. Police said none of their injuries was thought to be life-threatening.

It was the second fatality of the weekend on Bay of Plenty roads after motorcyclist James Gordon Hesketh, 42, of Tokoroa was killed in a head-on collision with a car near Te Kaha, 70km northeast of Opotiki, on State Highway 35, on Sunday.

A 47-year-old Auckland man died after the car he was driving drifted across the road in Manukau and crashed into a parked car on Saturday. Details were unavailable.

And on Friday night a 17-year-old Oamaru student, Abby Maree Cox, died after the car in which she was a passenger hit a tree near Otematata, 95km northwest of Oamaru.

Ms Cox had been holidaying in the area. Three of the other four vehicle occupants were taken to Oamaru Hospital.

The Labour Weekend road toll last year was three, the lowest for some years. The holiday toll period ends at 8am today.

The weekend's toll takes the number of deaths on the roads this year to 382 - more than 50 higher than at this time last year.

Meanwhile, holiday-makers faced a slow journey home last night with traffic in the Auckland area especially busy.

By 3.30pm, cars heading towards Auckland from Northland on State Highway 1 had backed up about 30km to Puhoi.

Traffic from the south was moving at a crawl, with tailbacks as far as the Thames turn-off on the Southern Motorway.

A few minor crashes had caused minimal problems, said police, and there were no major accidents or delays.

"Probably the fine weather and dry roads have helped," said Inspector Peter Rosendale, from the police northern communications centre.

"It's been normal holiday weekend. Traffic has been heavy but has kept moving slowly but surely."

Among the motorists trapped in jams was Chinese President Hu Jintao. His convoy left Auckland for the airport about 6pm.


Herald Feature: Road safety