Seven dead from crashes over Christmas break

Tuesday, 26 December 2017

Two deaths from a car crash just north of Glenavy among seven fatalities on the road since the official holiday road toll began on Friday afternoon.

Seven people have died on New Zealand's roads in the four days since the Christmas break began.

The bleak tally adds to an already high number of road deaths for the year.

Tahuna farmer Dan Smith said a car which rolled into a ditch on outside his Waikato property was the second crash he'd seen in two days.

By December 22, the road toll for the year sat at 368, already well ahead of last year's 311.

Last holiday period, 19 people died on the roads.

* As road toll creeps up, Christmas holiday 4kmh speed tolerance policy launches

* New Zealand's road toll on track for highest total in years

* Two men killed in 'high-speed' crash near Glenavy, South Canterbury**

The official holiday period began at 4pm on Friday and ends on January 3 2018.

On Boxing Day in the Waikato, vehicle collisions reached 12 by the afternoon, doubling last year's total of six collisions.

Waikato Police Senior Sergeant Mike Henwood said Christmas might be over but the roads are still busy.

'[There's] a large number of people on the road and some people make some bad driving decisions.'

According to the Ministry of Transport 62 per cent of last year's crash-related injuries occurred on an open road and half were single vehicle crashes.

Common causes were losing control, travelling too fast and not paying attention.

On Christmas Eve, Dan Smith watched the 'chaos' of five people being taken to Waikato Hospital after a car rolled into a ditch opposite his house on State Highway 27, at Tahuna.

It was the second crash he'd seen in two days.

'I still hadn't fixed [the fences] from the car crash the day before.

'It's the main road so it's just busy as hell.

'I don't get it, it's straight road … People need to pay attention to what they're doing rather than being off in la la land.'

The string of this year's fatal holiday crashes began with the death of an Auckland taxi driver on Saturday morning.

Abdul Raheem Fahad Syed, 29, was killed by the 20-year-old driver of a Mercedes who allegedly ran a red light before ploughing into Syed's Toyota Prius on Symonds St.

Later on Saturday, 64-year-old Lalita Devi, died in a car crash on State Highway 14 in Northland.

Early on Christmas Eve, Boney Biju, was killed on his 21st birthday, when his car lost control and struck a tree on Jollies Pass Rd, 2 kilometres east of Hamner Springs.

The same day, a 65-year-old man was killed at Pourerere Rd in central Hawke's Bay after a vehicle rolled down a bank.

Jie Hu, a 23-year-old woman from Rotorua also died in a crash on State Highway 5 near Rotorua, on Christmas Eve.

And on Boxing Day, two men were killed instantly near Glenavy, in what police believe was a high speed crash.

In a statement, a police spokesperson said police encourage people to drive safely in all conditions.

'But we can't be everywhere at once, or control the actions of every driver.

'If you're heading away for a summer break, ensure you take plenty of time to get to where you need to be, and have patience behind the wheel.'