A car left the road and rolled down a steep bush-covered ravine on State Highway 5, near Tarawera, on Sunday.
A car left the road and rolled down a steep bush-covered ravine on State Highway 5, near Tarawera, on Sunday.
Multiple crashes in Hawke’s Bay over the last week have caused road closures, delays, and one fatality.
Inspector Angela Hallett emphasises the main crash causes: restraints, impairment, distraction, and speed.
Hallett urges drivers to wear seatbelts, stay sober and alert, and drive to the conditions.
All four of Hawke’s Bay’s busiest highways have been closed by major crashes over the past week, prompting a top police officer to urge the region’s drivers to slow down and drive without distractions.
The only highway in the region not to have experienced a recent road-shutting crash is State Highway 38 from Wairoa to Waikaremoana.
A man died in a crash on Sunday morning on State Highway 2 north of Takapau, the third fatality on the region’s roads for January, according to the Ministry of Transport.
The national toll for January stood at 28, from 25 fatal crashes, at the time of writing.
A car left the road and rolled down a steep bush-covered ravine on State Highway 5, near Tarawera, on Sunday.
On Wednesday, a truck crash at the Mangamate Stream Bridge near Tikokino closed State Highway 50 for four hours as emergency services freed a driver and then worked to clear the road.
Then on Friday evening, a crash closed State Highway 51 between St Georges Rd and Napier Rd near Hastings from 7.40pm until 6.30am on Saturday.
On Sunday, the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter was called when a car left the road and rolled down a steep bush-covered ravine near Tarawera on State Highway 5. Two people were transported to hospital with minor injuries.
Another crash on Monday morning, also near Takapau on State Highway 2, closed the southbound lane for several hours.
Then on Monday afternoon, four people were injured in a crash that closed SH5 near Waipunga, on the border with Bay of Plenty.
Emergency services and three rescue helicopters (one each from Taupō, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne) were called just before 4pm.
All four were airlifted to Waikato Hospital, three in a serious condition and one in a minor condition, and the road was closed from 4pm to 7pm.
Hawke’s Bay District road policing manager Inspector Angela Hallett said crashes occur in the region year-round and the 32 hours of closures were not necessarily a seasonal issue or an issue with the conditions on the roads.
“There’s all sorts of conditions that might contribute to crashes,” Hallett said.
“It happens any time of year, but there are certain things we know that do contribute to death and serious injuries.”
Hallett said impairment, distraction, and speed were the main causes of crashes, and a lack of restraints often led to serious injury and death.
“About a third of the people who die on our roads are unrestrained vehicle occupants,” she said, stressing the importance of wearing a seatbelt while travelling in a car.
Hallett said it was important to drive while sober and alert, while also taking breaks or sharing driving responsibilities while on long drives.
When a crash happened and a road was closed, Hallett said there were a number of steps to be completed before it could be reopened.
“There’s certainly a lot of things that need to happen,” she said.
When a significant crash does happen, police will send their serious crash unit, turning the road into a crime scene.
“Our serious crash team actually map out and measure [the scene], so it can actually investigate and look at the cause, or causes, of the crash, so it could potentially be seen as a homicide investigation,” she said.
“We’ve got to collect evidence to collect evidence in case there is culpability on any party involved.”
Outside of investigations, there are also crash victims who require medical assistance, road quality checks, debris clean-up, and blessings of the scene, adding to the time of the closure.
“We do liaise with our command centre around expected timeframes, and we do often get a media message out to avoid the area,” she said.
“There isn’t a set timeframe due to all sorts of factors.”
These factors include weather, communication issues, the number of patients and witnesses, and the resources police have available to them at that time.
She said at this time of year Hawke’s Bay was a holiday destination for New Zealanders and visitors may be unfamiliar with the region’s roads, which added another layer of danger.
“We encourage people to take breaks every hour and a half while travelling,” she said.
Distracted drivers looking at their cellphones were also a leading cause of crashes and can be easily avoided by leaving phones out of reach and left on silent while driving.
“Speed is the one that determines the outcome of the crash,” she said.
“The speed limit is not a target, and we want people to drive to the conditions.”
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.
