Holiday road toll stays at seven

Email
Print

Holiday road toll stays at seven

3News NZ

The annual road toll stands at 236 (file pic)

The annual road toll stands at 236 (file pic)

Seven people died on New Zealand roads over the Labour weekend after the official holiday period ended this morning.

The number killed was one short of last year's toll of eight for the same weekend, which police national road policing manager, Superintendent Carey Griffiths, said was disappointing.

The worst was when four people died in a fiery head-on crash near Gisborne on Saturday night.

Police have said alcohol was a factor in the crash.

"When people choose not to wear seat belts, to drink and drive or exceed the speed limit they need to realise that those choices have permanent consequences," Mr Griffiths said.

But the family of the driver who survived the Gisborne crash, say 59-year-old Roland Whitney, has been sober for years, and the police have got it wrong, Fairfax reports.

Mr Whitney's son Te Anau Whitney and his partner Helena Moore died in the crash.

His cousin Barbara Whitney said he was "very family-oriented" and had not touched alcohol since his first wife died from cancer in the late 1990s.

In other fatal crashes, a pregnant 24-year-old woman was killed in a two-car crash near Timaru on Saturday afternoon.

A 17-year-old Taupo girl died on Friday night when the car she was a passenger in lost control and flipped near Reporoa, north of Taupo.

Meanwhile, a man is expected to appear in New Plymouth Court this week after Anne Elizabeth McCullough, a 45-year-old mother of two, was killed while running on a rural road near New Plymouth on Saturday in an alleged hit-and-run.

Her body was found in the back of a car and a 27-year-old New Plymouth man has been charged with her manslaughter.

An eighth person who died in an accident near Queenstown is being excluded from the Labour Weekend road toll statistics because the crash was caused by a medical episode.

The holiday period ended at 6am on Tuesday.

The annual road toll stands at 236 - 14 ahead of the same time last year.

NZN

Post a Comment

Before commenting, please take the time to read our moderation guide


(Won't be published)



Comments

24/10/2012 2:39:58 p.m.

milla wrote:

Why do we still count fatalities, rather than fatal incidents?

23/10/2012 2:15:45 p.m.

Mike wrote:

Given:

- more carrying of mobile phones
- more medical helicopters
- more widespread medical training
- safer cars when have crashes
- safer cars with abs and electronic stability programs etc
- more medium barriers
- lower road speeds

We should see a much lower road toll.

Reality is the speed has very little impact on the road toll as something else was involved to cause an accident. When our speed limit rose from 80-100 kph, how much did our road toll jump? Oh, wait, it was about the same. Its the other factors like the idiot behind the wheel that is the problem. The whole speed campaign doesn't measure up with what our road toll did raising the speed from 80-100 kph and everyone knows its bullshit, including the police.

They could introduce a reaction test, and anyone below a standard is failed. This would pick up drunks, drugged, even sleepy drivers - all of which are driving impaired and a danger on the road.

They also need to look to give tickets for anyone driving slow. Anything not flowing with the traffic, be it faster or slower is a problem waiting for an accident. The reality is today with increased traffic that there are very few places to pass vehicles on the road without passing lanes, as if one stays within the speed limit its too dangerous to pass other vehicles without passing lanes, and the tickets for passing safely are too expensive so one tends to pass only in passing lanes.

The issue of heavy vehicles involved in accidents is often as a result of speed variation, ie not flowing with traffic. If the vehicles are unsafe to travel like 100kph, get them off the road. This includes the family vehicle with trailer/boat/caravan. This current campaign of catching heavier vehicles doing over 80 kph (84 kph with the weekend tolerance) will cause more frustration, not less, and maybe more accidents.

23/10/2012 1:47:19 p.m.

Wendy wrote:

IS IT REALLY THAT HARD TO OBEY THE LAWS OF THE ROAD IN NZ? I mean come on guys use your common sense when driving on our raods.. Ive seen messages about CAR CRASHES on TV ads Billboards Schools Media and Radio. So whats going on here does no one pay attention? SAD No one really cares enough so really whats the point in trying to get these messages across to the people of NZ. Good Luck i say to those who decide not to take care on our roads, And Good on them to those who do CARE about driving on our roads. ITS SIMPLE: If you care about your life then BUCKLE UP!!BE SAFE and look after others when driving on our roads. If you are stupid enough to get into a vehicle with a drunkdriver then im sorry to say this but thats your CHOICE. Maybe we will see again, or not. Just want to make other point: Its not the VEHICLE that causes these car crashes, ITS THE DRIVER!

23/10/2012 12:13:17 p.m.

Martin wrote:

The police are the ones that have to attend and deal with the dead in crashes. The police are the ones that have to tell relatives of the dead. The police see carnage and crashes all the time. Bulgar - there are next to no poor roads just poor drivers not driving to the road conditions. Bendy, rough etc slow down and drive accordingly. Of course there is an element of the Police organisation requiring officers to obtain a quota for tickets (duh), but if you are not driving like an idiot or tired or on drugs or pissed or speeding then whats the problem with the police? Or is it you?

23/10/2012 9:59:32 a.m.

Paora wrote:

So once again the lower 4km speed margin of error has failed to achieve anything except be the revenue gatherer police intend it to be.

23/10/2012 8:30:45 a.m.

Bulgar wrote:

For as long as there are poor roads in this country - accidents will continue to occur. The state of our roads is a sign of a banana republic.

23/10/2012 8:06:42 a.m.

jan wrote:

It doesn't matter if none of the crashes involved alcohol or speed the cops are still angling for the speed limit to be dropped so they can catch more speeders. I am sick of the talking head each time from the cops saying "they are disappointed with drivers behaviour". What the hell are we kids to be told off, what a
bloody demeaning way to talk to the country. With the stat side well if 2 cars crash with 2 occupants thats 2 dead, but if each car had 5 in each the tally would be potentially 10 people. Maybe the emphasis should be on the amount of crashes and not the amount of people who died, because there might of been lots of crashes and no deaths. Then the emphasis on speed and alcohol might be a bit more legitimate.