Motorcyclist's death brings toll to 402

A motorcyclist became the 14th person to die on the roads this holiday period when a motorbike crashed on the Arthurs Pass highway between Christchurch and the West Coast yesterday.

The accident happened about 1pm at Rangiriri Bridge, near Wainihinihi on State Highway 73, 45km southeast of Greymouth. There were no other vehicles involved.

The death took the road toll for 2002 to 402, one of the lowest since 1963, when the toll was last under 400. The road toll for 2001 was 450, with 21 deaths over the same holiday period.

Earlier yesterday, an Otago truck driver was killed and his son, 13, seriously injured when their truck and trailer rolled on a moderate bend on State Highway 1 at St Andrews, 20km south of Timaru.

The driver was Louis Douglas Cross, 36, of Mosgiel. His son was in a critical condition in Timaru Hospital.

The Post Haste Couriers truck and trailer crashed about 3am on a slight bend, hitting a power pole.

Power was cut to three homes and traffic was diverted around State Highway 1 between 3am and 2pm. No other vehicles were involved.

Ambulance staff had a busy time in the South Island around noon yesterday. One person suffered minor injuries when a car rolled on the Christchurch-Akaroa road, and a van collided with a light truck in Christchurch about the same time.

Police have revised the death of a truck driver to an illness-related cause, instead of the result of a crash, after he veered off the Te Atatu motorway on-ramp in Auckland about 3.40am on Monday and his truck came to rest in a paddock.

Acting police national road safety manager Inspector Dave Parsons said it had been hoped the 2002 toll would not break 400.

The holiday period runs until 6am on Friday.

- NZPA

Herald feature: Cutting the road toll

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