Woman dies after being hit by car in Takapuna, Auckland

Friday, 23 December 2016

'All the cars on Taharoto, it's like the motorway, it's very dangerous,' said a good friend of the woman who died crossing it on Friday night.

Neighbours of an elderly woman who died crossing a 'motorway-like' Auckland road remember her as a 'lovely woman'.

The woman, who lived at Pupuke Court, an Auckland Council pensioner housing complex in Takapuna, on Auckland's North Shore, was hit by a car on Taharoto Rd's painted median about 7pm on Friday.

Resident Frank Curzon, who was good friends with the woman, believed to be aged in her 70s, said he rushed to the road when he heard the woman had been hit.

Curzon, a frail man, ran from his rear pensioner unit.

His then-critically injured friend was unrecognisable as she was taken to a waiting ambulance and taken to Auckland Hospital.

'We'll pray for her,' he said.

Police said the woman died from her injuries in Auckland Hospital.

Another resident, Josie Warne, who helped police identify the woman at the accident scene, said she didn't know her well but remembers her friendly nature.

'She didn't speak much English, but even though we didn't have much to do with each [other], she was such a lovely woman.

'It's really sad, it's so close to Christmas.'

The woman, who sometimes used a walker and had 'one or two recent medical setbacks' was most likely crossing six lane Taharoto Rd, trying to reach the park opposite that she liked to visit daily, Curzon said.

'All the cars on Taharoto, it's like the motorway, it's very dangerous, I've nearly been collected there myself,' he said.

To cross the arterial road, Pupuke Court's pensioners must walk hundreds of metres each way to reach pedestrian crossings.

The Serious Crash Unit was investigating.

The woman's death is the first Christmas/New Year road toll death.

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