Nelson-Marlborough road toll doubles after three fatal crashes in one week
Friday, 11 October 2019
Nelson police are urging caution on the roads after three fatal crashes doubled the region's road toll in the past week.
Three men were killed in separate crashes between Wednesday 2 October and Tuesday 8 October, with two of them involving motorcycles.
The three crashes have increased the Nelson-Marlborough road toll for 2019 to six deaths, according to statistics from the Ministry of Transport.
On October 2, 18-year-old Nelson man Cameron Alexander Anderson was killed in a one-car crash on the Whangamoa Saddle between Rai Valley and Hira.
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Four days later Rai Valley man Christopher David Heads, 69, was killed after his motorcycle had a collision with a car on Bulford Rd near State Highway 6.
A 52-year-old man, who has yet to be named by police, was killed after falling from his motorcycle while riding with friends over the Neudorf Saddle on Tuesday afternoon.
Also in September, 40-year-old Daniel Peter Fish, of Nelson, died of his injuries after his car collided with a tree by State Highway 6 in Motupiko.
Acting Tasman Road Policing team leader Acting Senior Sergeant Lex Bruning said while the causes of the crashes were still under investigation, drivers needed to do their part to make sure they were safe on the road.
'In general terms, driver behaviour is often the constant variable in road crashes – drivers need to be respectful of the conditions and other road users.'
Bruning said basic road safety practices like wearing seatbelts, reducing speed, and removing distractions such as cellphones could go a long way to reducing the amount and severity of crashes on Nelson roads.
He said with fatal crashes there was also a ripple effect on friends and family throughout the community.
'Any fatal crash is one too many – it's upsetting to have to notify families when it happens, particularly when they can be avoided.'
The Ministry of Transport figures show that motorcyclists have been disproportionately affected in 2019, accounting for three of the six deaths.
Five of the six people killed have been men, and 50 per cent of the fatalities have been in the over 60 demographic.
Despite the horror week on Nelson roads, the overall Nelson-Marlborough road toll is still lower than it has been in previous years.
At the same point (October 9) in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the road toll for the region was at 9, 12, and 7 deaths respectively.
In total, 12 people died on Nelson-Marlborough roads in 2018, 15 in 2017, and 10 in 2016.
The region's lowest ever road toll was in 2015, when 5 people were killed on the road. The worst recorded year was in 1984, when 27 people died and 202 were seriously injured.