Drivers abuse police dealing with fatal crash

Impatient drivers abused police who were dealing with a horrific crash on the outskirts of Hamilton yesterday.

Two people died in the 11.30am crash on State Highway 1 near Matangi, southwest of Hamilton.

The 49-year-old female driver of a Post Haste Couriers van and the 40-year-old male driver of another car both died at the scene following a head-on collision.

SH1 was closed for about 90 minutes after the crash and the clean-up was made harder because brake and hydraulic fluid had spilled on to the road.

But the delay was too long for some drivers, who abused police officers, blaming them for the wait.

It is understood at least one officer was told by a swearing motorist they couldn't care less about the dead people trapped in the cars. "Get out of my way, I just want to get home."

A police spokesman said the cars were so badly damaged in the crash that they were removed from the scene with the victims still in them.

Yesterday's tragedy brought to three the number of drivers working for courier companies to die on the road in the past few weeks.

On December 18, Hamilton CourierPost driver Colleen Jackson was killed on SH1 near Tirau, between Hamilton and Rotorua, in a head-on crash which also killed the driver of the other car, Michael Bhaskaran, 48.

The previous weekend, New Zealand Post truck driver Peter Harland, a 53-year-old father of four, was killed when his vehicle and a car carrying two tourists collided head on SH1 south of Taihape.

Waikato road policing services manager Bruce Lyon urged people not to get into a rush on the roads.

"There's too many people rushing around town trying to get everything done at once."

- NZPA