Editorial: Families pay huge cost in road toll

Before every long weekend there is the usual warning to motorists: don't drink and drive, wear your seatbelts, take rest breaks to avoid fatigue, slow down and be patient.

But every long weekend, police up and down the country are busy cleaning up the mess left by those who have failed to take notice of those warnings.

Each time you hear of a deadly crash, you hope you don't know the person killed.

When news broke of a teen girl killed on Friday night at Reporoa, I instantly wanted to know who she was.

Same, too, when a fatal crash north of Timaru - my home town - was reported. In that crash, a pregnant woman was killed and her husband seriously injured. The couple's two children, aged 4 and 5, were in the back seat and were treated for minor injuries.

Turns out I don't know either of these women who lost their lives.

It's human nature to be relieved.

But they are loved ones of so many others. For their families and friends, their long weekends - and the rest of their lives - are now changed forever.

In the case of 17-year-old Annalese Bacon who died in Reporoa, her crash could have been avoided. According to police, speed, alcohol and failing to wear a seatbelt were likely factors.

But those factors don't make it any easier for those family members who are today grieving a young life taken too early.