One week, 13 dead: a bad week on New Zealand's roads

Sunday, 2 September 2018

A person has died following a car crash near Big Jims hill in Waitara, Taranaki

Seven days, 12 crashes, 13 dead: the last week of August has been a bad one on New Zealand's roads.

Wednesday was the deadliest, adding five lives to New Zealand's road toll - now 251 for 2018.

The Ministry of Transport is yet to update the toll to include the two who died in crashes on Sunday, and another who died three days after a crash in Waimauku on Wednesday.

A car crash at intersection of SH8 and SH80, Wednesday.

Another crash killed motorsport photographer Kevin Corin, struck and killed by a car during a rally at Hanmer Springs, on Saturday.

**READ MORE:

Police and fire attend the scene of a fatal crash at the southern entrance to the Terrace Tunnel, Wellington.

* Victim of fatal crash near Mt Cook named

* Woman killed, man arrested after fatal two-car crash north of New Plymouth

Mackenzie district residents erect their own road warning signs near an intersection between State Highways 8 and 80 where a fatal accident occurred.

* Three injured in single-car crash near Taihape

One person has been killed and four people injured after a crash involving three vehicles near Mt Cook.

* Fatal crash on Rangitīkei road**

The week's first death was just after midnight on Monday, when Rita Ataahua Peka, 38, died in a crash on Galatea Rd, near Lake Matahina, 50km west of Whakatāne.

A two-vehicle crash on State Highway 3, Waitara, killed a woman driver on Tuesday morning. The driver of the other vehicle was uninjured.

Casey Atutahi, 22, was in the back seat of a car when it hit a wall in New Plymouth at 1.30am on Wednesday. Atutahi, one of four occupants in the car, died at Taranaki Base Hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

A fatal crash on State Highway 16 in Waimauku, West Auckland on Wednesday.

It was just the beginning of Wednesday's deaths. A person was killed in a crash at the southern entrance of Wellington's Terrace Tunnel. The 7.50am crash shut the tunnel for hours and cause commuting chaos during rush hour.

A serious single-vehicle crash that afternoon, on SH35 south of Tolaga Bay, killed another.

A Tekapo-Twizel Rd crash followed, killing 42-year-old Qin Li.

Volunteer firefighter Paul Hannagan, who responded to a fatal crash, was among Twizel community members who erected a warning sign near the intersection of Tekapo-Twizel Rd and Mt Cook Rd on Sunday.

Two women also died following a two-car crash on Wednesday, at Waimauku, West Auckland.

On Thursday, a serious crash in Morrinsville killed one, and a motorcyclist died in a collision with a car in Eyrewell Forest, Waikmakairi that evening.

Sunday brought two more road deaths and a total of 13 for the week. A pedestrian was hit in Bulls at 4.15am.

At Whangaehu, south of Whanganui, a 23-year-old man died in a two vehicle crash at 12.30pm.

The Wednesday crashes had police post a public plea on Facebook, asking 'everyone who reads this post to take five minutes out of their day to think about their driving'.

On Sunday, a police spokesperson said a driver's decisions impact on everybody else on the road.

'Nobody wants to share the road with someone who is taking risks. We all need to act responsibly so everyone can get to their destination safely.'

A total of 378 road deaths were recorded in 2017.

At July's end, the number of road deaths for 2018 matched that of the year before - 223.

Numbers for August have not yet been released.

**A WEEK'S WORTH OF ROAD DEATHS

Monday:**

* 12am, Lake Matahina, Whakatāne - One person dies in a single car crash on Galatea Rd just after midnight.

Tuesday:

* 6am, Waitara, Taranaki - A two-vehicle crash on Devon Rd, SH1, at 6am kills a woman driver.

Wednesday:

* 1.30am, New Plymouth - Casey Atutahi, 22, dies after a car containing four people crashes into a wall at 1.30am.

* 7.50am, Terrace Tunnel, Wellington - A person is killed in a crash which closes Wellington's Terrace Tunnel at 7.50am.

* 1pm, State Highway 35, south of Tologa Bay, East Coast - A person dies in a single vehicle crash.

* 3pm Tekapo-Twizel Rd at Mount Cook - A person dies and two are seriously injury in a three-car crash at an intersection.

* 5.15pm, State Highway 16, Waimauku - Two-people, one a 64-year-old woman, die after a two-car crash on SH16, near McPike Rd.

**Thursday:

* 8.10am, Piako Rd, Morrinsville -** One person dies in a serious crash.

* After 8pm, Eyrewell Forest, Waikmakairi - A motorcyclist dies after colliding with a car at the intersection of Poyntzs Rd and South Eyre Rd.

Saturday:

* 5.05pm, Hanmer Forest, Hanmer Springs - Motorsport photographer Kevin Corin dies after being hit by a rally car while photographing a rally event.

Sunday:

* 4.15am, Bulls - A pedestrian is struck by a vehicle and killed.

* 12.30pm, State Highway 3, Whangaehu - A 23-year-old is killed in a two-vehicle crash south of Whanganui.