Rider sent flying over hill railings

A motorcyclist somersaulted over the guardrails on the Rimutaka Hill yesterday, during a bumpy start to the holiday weekend on Wairarapa roads.

Emergency services were called to three vehicle incidents, including the motorbike crash about 12.20pm.

Featherston fire chief Colin McKenna said the man was riding towards Featherston when he crashed into new guardrail on the Wairarapa side of the hill. The man somersaulted over the railing on to the bank, his bike still on the road.

Mr McKenna said the man injured his back when he landed a short distance down the bank. He was taken to Hutt Hospital by ambulance but his condition was not thought to be serious.

The accident came as police urged motorists to take care on the roads at Easter weekend, with a special warning for motorcyclists on the Rimutaka Hill Rd.

The NZTA's Wellington state highway manager, Rod James, said the topography of the road made it attractive to riders, "but it also means that it will always be a high-risk road, regardless of the weather or conditions, so motorcyclists can never afford to get complacent".

Fire services were also called to Lake Ferry Rd at 1.45pm, where Mr McKenna said a car had flipped on to its roof near the Pirinoa store.

An ambulance was called but it's understood the driver was not seriously injured.

Earlier, the Carterton Fire Brigade was called out to Carters Line to put out three small fires caused by brake pads.

Fire chief Wayne Robinson said it seemed the brake pads on some sort of trailer, possibly a horse float, heated up and fell off, causing three small grass fires on the roadside about 10.45am.

Last Easter weekend was the first with no fatalities in 57 years. The national manager of road policing, Superintendent Carey Griffiths, said this showed a difference could be collectively made by watching speed, wearing seatbelts, not driving drunk and maintaining concentration.

So far in the official holiday period, which began at 4pm on Thursday and ends at 6am on Tuesday, a 55-year-old cyclist died after his bike and a motor vehicle collided in Temuka, north of Timaru, on Thursday.