Holiday toll hits 11 with 2 days to go

Photo / Northern Advocate

A motorcyclist was killed yesterday on the Coromandel Peninsula and a motorist died in Marlborough last night, taking the holiday road toll to 11.

Police have also named the first person killed on the roads in 2011 as Auckland man Tamataia Pera Maurangi, 35.

The Pt England resident died when the Holden Commodore he was driving left the road near Hastings and was submerged in a ditch about 1.40am on Saturday.

Mr Maurangi's male passenger, disoriented but otherwise uninjured, managed to get out of the car and flag down a passing police car, but his friend was already dead.

The cause of the crash had not been established last night.

Sean Coe, 20, also died yesterday in Waikato Hospital, a day after the Toyota he was travelling in and a van collided on State Highway 1 near Horotiu.

Yesterday's first fatal crash happened at 12.53pm on State Highway 25 between Coromandel town and Te Rerenga.

The road was closed and traffic diverted for several hours.

A 50-year-old man was killed when his car rolled on State Highway 6 at Canvastown, in Marlborough, shortly before 9pm.

After an afternoon of death and carnage - including two other non-fatal but serious crashes in the Waikato - police urged motorists to "drive to survive".

Acting Waikato road policing manager Senior Sergeant Jeff Penno said weather conditions were "perfect" and there were no excuses for the crashes.

None were accidents and all could have been avoided had drivers stuck to basic safety rules, such as watching their speed, keeping left, avoiding drinking and driving, and wearing their seatbelts, Mr Penno said.

"What we're seeing is people becoming impatient and not driving to the conditions.

"If traffic flows at peak times are going to be greater than normal, and they are over the holiday period, then you need to plan your trip accordingly and consider leaving earlier to avoid any hassle."

Mr Penno said having two road deaths when it was only the second day of the year was not only tragic, it was unacceptable given the avoidability of what had happened.

The holiday road toll period ends at 5am on Wednesday and the toll is only four fewer than in 2009-10.

The first death was Dunedin woman Gayle Anderson, 44, who died when she hit a power pole on Christmas Eve.

Early on Christmas Day, father of two Vineshwar Singh, 40, was pronounced dead after a hit-and-run at Pukekohe.

On December 27, Mary-Lee Huata, 17, was killed on the way home from a party after her mother's wedding. The teenager was a passenger in a 4WD, driven by a 13-year-old relative, that crashed near her Raupunga home.

Another teenager was killed on December 29 while riding on the back of a ute driven by a 15-year-old near Reporoa. Sebastian Hirling, 16, died after the ute rolled, and two others were injured.

The same day, a 38-year-old motorcyclist was killed near Wanganui in a collision with a car on a gravel road.

A third teenager was killed on New Year's Eve. Tanisha Morris, 13, died when the car she was in and a truck collided on State Highway 2, north of Napier.

Police said the car Tanisha was in was travelling in a line of traffic when the first vehicle slowed to turn into a driveway.

A second person was killed on New Year's Day near Opotiki when two cars collided about 5pm.