Fatal Gisborne crash result of chase

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Fatal Gisborne crash result of chase

3News NZ

Three people were killed when their car hit a power pole in Gisborne after a short police chase

Three people were killed when their car hit a power pole in Gisborne after a short police chase

By Jerram Watts

Four people are dead and two seriously injured following two crashes in the North Island overnight.

Three people were killed when their car hit a power pole in Gisborne after a short police chase, and one person was also killed in Mangere, Auckland early this morning after colliding with a power pole.

A tree now bears the scars of a high-speed crash that killed three people in Gisborne last night.

The broken power pole that the white Mitsubishi slammed into lies in a twisted pile of metal and concrete while contractors erect a replacement.

Police had earlier attempted to pull the car over, just before 10pm. The driver fled and police pursued.

Police say the pursuit was abandoned after about 90 seconds when they lost sight of the car.

The wreckage was found minutes later on a stretch of country road.

3 News understands the two men killed in the crash were Dylan Kingi and Peter Bunyan. Holly Gunn also died, while 25-year-old Claire Badger survived the crash.

Another man was killed in a crash in Mangere early this morning after his car also struck a power pole.

Police say the car was travelling at speed before the impact, but don't know what caused it to leave the road. A female passenger survived the crash and was taken to hospital.

Live wires prevented emergency services from reaching the vehicle immediately. Vector dispatched a contractor, but it took more than 30 minutes to reach the scene.

Vector says it has been lobbying the Government to get emergency lights on contractors’ vehicles, so they can attend emergency callouts sooner.

The Ministry of Transport says it rejects that proposal, and electrical workers should rely on police to get them to scenes, because they are specialised high-speed drivers.

3 News

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Comments

17/07/2012 8:58:27 a.m.

Mandy wrote:

The crash was the result of the driver's refusal to pull over, pure and simple. Don't go blaming the Police, as the caption infers. There should be far stronger deterents for drivers who do not pull over ie for every minute of the pursuit the penalty for whatever laws are broken doubles, with no maximum. If they injure or kill an innocent member of the public, they should be charged with attempted murder or murder. The penalties for not pulling over must far exceed any penalty they could incur by pulling over. The risk/reward factor must be too severe to take the chance.

16/07/2012 2:20:26 p.m.

Dianne wrote:

If they didn't run they would be alive today they knew right from wrong simple as that can not blame the police for doing their job.

16/07/2012 2:07:30 p.m.

dave wrote:

these people were old enough to know better, now we have families suffering, along with the police...all for what. I hope the police dont change their attitude toward pursuits. Its the drivers that need to change theirs.

16/07/2012 2:07:25 p.m.

Gary wrote:

It is a bye product of policing tac tics of todays society. The more you create a police state the more this kind of thing will happen. Taking their cars and destroying them may seem a good lesson but what message is it really sending. And don't just blame the driver blame everyone who was in the car, we are all responsible for our own actions. It would be good to know why he ran? Then, if we can be bothered, we may be able to prevent more of these tragendies.

16/07/2012 12:20:52 p.m.

S wrote:

I heard that the police lost sight of the car well before the crash, so unfortunately the driver is responsible for outrunning the police and crashing the car very sadly for these victims families and feel for them. The Vector people should have emergency lighting on their vehicles for situations such as this.

16/07/2012 12:01:55 p.m.

Richard wrote:

They were exercising their choices and reaped the consequences. End of.

16/07/2012 9:41:26 a.m.

RolanTheRat wrote:

This was not the result of a chase.this was the end result from a driver who fail to stop for the police and killed 3 people some mate.