Labour Day: Police urge for caution on roads as long weekend death toll climbs to six

Monday, 26 October 2020

Traffic is backed up on SH8 following a fatal crash near Lake Tekapo on Saturday.

A horror long weekend on New Zealand’s roads left six people dead, multiple injured and police calling for motorists to look after themselves and others.

The numbers compare to just one person who died on the roads during the entire Labour weekend in 2019.

The first death included in the holiday road toll was a motorcyclist who was killed on State Highway 2 in Upper Hutt on Friday evening.

Thirty-six-year-old Kelly Eugene Baker died in a crash near Gisborne early on Saturday on Whatatutu Rd in Te Karaka. His death has been referred to the coroner.

Traffic was diverted at the intersection of Godley Peaks Rd and SH8 near Lake Tekapo following a crash.

* Cellphone use and speed potential factors in fatal crash near Lake Tekapo

* Labour weekend road toll already higher than 2019, just hours in

The scene of a three-vehicle crash at Archers Bridge in the Weka Pass in North Canterbury which occurred at 12.10pm on Friday 23.

Che Tekapa Hogg, 42, of Auckland, died after the car he was driving collided with another car near Tekapo on Saturday. Three other people were also airlifted to hospital with moderate injuries, and the road was blocked for some time.

Police were understood to be looking at cellphone use and speed as factors in their investigation.

On Saturday, a pedestrian died following an earlier crash on State Highway 3, in Westmere, Whanganui.

On Sunday, the Labour weekend road toll rose again after a person died when a car rolled on State Highway 35 in Tikitiki north of Gisborne.

Police announced a sixth road fatality on Monday, following a car crash on Sunday around 11.30pm in Tokomaru, Horowhenua.

The driver and sole occupant of one of the vehicles died at the scene. A passenger in the other vehicle received moderate injuries.

Police have also attended a number of other crashes and road closures across the country over the course of the weekend.

One of these was a serious crash in northern Hawke’s Bay on Sunday, which saw a motorcyclist taken to Waikato Hospital in a critical condition.

Another motorcyclist is in a critical condition following a single vehicle crash on the Desert Road on Saturday morning.

Waikato saw two other serious crashes – one in the Coromandel and one in Karapiro, near Cambridge, which caused multiple injuries.

In the Bay of Plenty, at least 12 people were injured in a three-car crash on State Highway 5 at Ohaaki, northeast of Taupō on Monday.

Police said the injuries of those involved ranged from moderate to serious, and some people had been taken to Rotorua Hospital for treatment.

Two people were injured in Taranaki, one following a motorcycle crash on State Highway 3 on Monday morning, the second on Monday afternoon after a car crashed down a bank near Waitara, also on State Highway 3.

Inspector Jeff Penno, Waikato Road Policing Manager, said it had been another “deeply saddening” long weekend on Waikato and New Zealand’s roads.

“We need every driver to be personally responsible for their actions and ensure they are driving at an appropriate speed which on a lot of our roads, particularly the Coromandel, is not at the posted speed limit.

“If you’re tired or fatigued share the driving. If you’re impaired from drugs and alcohol or fatigue do not drive – it’s not worth it,” Penno said.

During the day on Friday, Julian Yates was killed in a crash on Weka Pass after a trailer carrying glass panels detached from a van and smashed into his vehicle. His death occurred before the start of the official holiday road toll.