Innocent driver among 3 dead in police chase
An ‘‘innocent’’ person was one of three people killed when a fleeing driver crossed the centre line and crashed head-on into an oncoming vehicle near Nelson.
The two people in the fleeing vehicle and the sole occupant of the other car all died in the collision on State Highway 6 at Hope, south of Nelson, at 5.40am yesterday.
Tasman police district commander Superintendent Mike Johnson said the chase happened after police tried to stop a vehicle while looking for a wanted person in Richmond.
The vehicle kept going, overtook a truck, moved onto the wrong side of the road, and collided with a vehicle travelling north, he said.
‘‘Tragically three people have died as a result. Two of the deceased were from the fleeing vehicle and the third person was an innocent member of the public,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘An outcome like this is the last thing police want to see. We now have three families who have lost members ...’’
Police pursued the fleeing car for about 6 kilometres and were chasing it when the crash happened.
Police were not yet able to confirm if the fleeing car contained the people they were looking for when they attempted to stop them.
Johnson said police had been seeking the ‘‘particular person we were looking for, for a period of time’’.
The pursuit would be investigated internally and the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) had been formally notified.
Johnson said it was too early to say whether police made the right call in pursuing the vehicle. Police had ‘‘very stringent procedures’’ that governed when they did, and did not, pursue vehicles.
‘‘These are high-risk, highimpact events. I would ask that people when signalled by police to stop, pull over and let us conduct whatever business is required at that point,’’ he said.
The families affected were being supported by police. All three victims were from the Nelson-Tasman area.
NZ Transport Agency spokeswoman Frances Adank said engineers would file a report on the road conditions once the police had completed their own report.
The fatal smash happened on a dip at the end of a long straight just before Brightwater, but nearby residents did not hear it.
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she was only alerted to the collision by the sound of sirens.
There had been a ‘‘reasonable number’’ of crashes on the stretch of road and she hoped the speed limit might be lowered to 80kmh.
Another neighbour, who also wished to remain anonymous, said speed was not necessarily to blame and he was comfortable with the area’s 100kmh limit.
Nelson Fire and Emergency senior station officer Steve Shackleton said firefighters helped remove the bodies from the vehicles. ‘‘One of the consequences of these accidents is how many people it actually effects, and that includes my crew. The police have got to deal with it, St John has got to deal with it, and then you’ve got probably three families who have lost [loved ones].’’
IPCA said: ‘‘The authority will likely carry out a specific investigation as well as including the incident in the wider work being conducted jointly with police on policy practice and procedure in this area.’’
The IPCA and police began reviewing the policy involving pursuits last July after police revealed they engaged in about 300 fleeing driver events a month. The review is due to be completed this year.