Police plead for drivers to stay calm and patient

The Auckland Harbour Bridge will have continuing delays throughout the holiday season. Picture / Richard Robinson

A father died yesterday and his three children and their mother were seriously hurt in the first accident of a catalogue of road deaths that saw the toll climb to 10.

Five-and-a-half hours into their drive from Wellington to their holiday spot in the Bay of Islands, the family's car struck a tree southwest of Te Kuiti at 7.30am.

A set of grandparents, who were following the car, were first on the scene at Eight Mile junction.

A 38-year-old woman, an 8-year-old girl and a 6-year-old were flown to hospital critically ill. Another child aged between 5 and 9 suffered moderate injuries and followed the family to Waikato Hospital by ambulance.

Crash investigators are still carrying out inquiries but driver fatigue is being investigated as a possible cause.

Another three fatal accidents later yesterday saw the tally half way through the holiday period climb to only one fewer than the 11 deaths in the entire period last year.

The official Christmas-New Year holiday period started at 4pm on Friday and finishes next Wednesday, January 4, at 6am.

Police are appealing for calm driving and patience at this dangerous time on the roads.

Top Waikato traffic policeman Leo Tooman, who himself drove from Wellington to Hamilton yesterday, said the volume of traffic and mix of speed and slow-moving vehicles towing trailers was a recipe for disaster.

"They're having a go when they shouldn't."

At 1.15pm yesterday a 10-year-old boy was killed when the four-wheel- drive he was a passenger in left State Highway 30 and rolled near Atiamuri.

Minutes later, another person was killed when a campervan and a car collided near Paeroa, at the intersection of State Highways 25 and 26, south of Thames.

A witness said there were lots of skid marks on the road and the sun had been blinding at the time of the accident.

About 5.15pm, a 19-year-old youth died after a sedan car and a van collided at the intersection of State Highway 60 and Harleys Rd, near Motueka.

The teenager, a passenger in the van, was airlifted to Nelson Hospital and the drivers were taken by ambulance. The youth later died.

Senior Sergeant Bruce Lyon of Waikato road police services said most of the fatalities this holiday period simply came down to "one moment's inattention".

"Fatigue plays a major part in crashes that occur in the early hours of the day.

"What normally occurs is that it's great driving at night - there's little traffic around - but as soon as the sun comes up the body says, 'Okay, this isn't right', and the mind shuts down and you try to go to sleep."

Police were also kept busy yesterday with a string of breakdowns and minor accidents.

In Auckland, holiday traffic clogged motorways from about lunchtime and resealing and a string of incidents caused havoc on the Harbour Bridge.

Two of the bridge's northbound lanes are closed for resealing and after an accident in the middle lane at the top, motorists were forced to reverse to a point where they could cross into the left-hand lane to continue their journey.

Two three-car accidents on the bridge also caused delays.

Further south, emergency service workers were called to an accident on the notorious stretch of State Highway 2 at Maramarua.

A car had flipped by the golf course, but nobody was seriously hurt. 

THE FATALITIES

* December 23

6.30pm, North Canterbury. Car hits train. 44-year-old Kevin McAnally killed.

* Christmas Eve

7am, Kawakawa. Car and van collide. 86-year-old man and middle-aged woman killed. Five others taken to hospital.

* Christmas Day

5.45pm, SH35, Bay of Plenty. Car crashes off road, 30-year-old man killed.
6.10pm, Wanganui. Van hits building. 15-year-old Richard Hohipa killed.

* Boxing Day

8.30pm, Orewa. Motorcycle and car collide at Johnsons Hill. Motorcyclist aged 47 dies.

* Yesterday

7.30am, Eight Mile Junction, SH4, Waikato. Car hits tree. One dead, one critical, two serious, one moderate.
1.15pm, SH30, Waikato. 4WD rolls near Atiamuri. 10-year-old boy killed.
1.22pm, Kopu intersection. Car and campervan collide. One dead.
5.15pm, near Motueka. Sedan and van collide. Van passenger, 19, killed.