Crash sparks residents' call for lower speed limit

The occupants of the two cars involved in the car crash were taken away by ambulance. Photo / Christine Cornege

A head-on crash at a Wairere Drive intersection in north Hamilton has residents calling for the speed limit to be lowered because they say it's the third accident there in two years.

A mother and her 10-year-old daughter were seriously injured and taken to Waikato Hospital after the Citroen hatchback they were in made a right turn from Wairere Drive into Raungawari Drive in Huntington and collided with a north-bound silver Ford stationwagon, witnesses said.

The occupants of the other vehicle, understood also to be a mother and daughter, suffered moderate injuries.

The accident happened about 1.45pm yesterday and the hatchback slid across the road to face the direction it had come from.

The stationwagon came to a stop half on the footpath. A witness, who did not want to be named, was at home with her children and their grandmother when she heard a loud crash. She rang 111 and went to help.

"I heard a horrific bang. It's the third time I've heard it," she said.

The hatchback driver was partly out of the car and her daughter, dressed in ballet gear, was trapped and calling out for help.

Residents told the Herald it was the third accident they had witnessed on that stretch of road in two years and they urged authorities to reduce the speed limit from 60km/h.