More holiday happenings
Nine people have died on New Zealand’s roads during the 10-day holiday period, with one night still to go.
The latest death happened in Gore when a teenage pedestrian died after being hit by a car on the Waimea Highway early yesterday morning.
The Christmas holiday period runs from December 24 to January 3, During the previous holiday period, there were 11 fatal crashes and 329 reported injury crashes, according to the NZ Transport Authority.
Those crashes resulted in 12 deaths, 90 serious injuries and 379 minor injuries.
The highest holiday period of road deaths on record was in 1972-73, when there were 37 deaths.
Two people died on Monday, and police confirmed another man died on December 30, after receiving serious injuries from a single vehicle crash near Taupo¯ on December 27.
This pushed the annual road toll to 382, passing the 378 who died in 2017.
Police Minister Stuart Nash said it was devastating to know many of the deaths were preventable.
‘‘There are far too many families who are missing a loved one these holidays after road accidents this year.
‘‘Although road deaths as a proportion of our population and in comparison to the number of cars on the road have halved in the past 20 years, we can do much better. We can work together to reduce the number of deaths.
‘‘The main contributing factors are speed, failure to wear a seatbelt, distraction such as using a cell phone, and impairment from drugs, alcohol, or fatigue,’’ Nash said.
In 2017, nine of the 12 holiday period deaths and more than half of the reported injuries happened on the open road.
While under half (46 per cent) of the crashes were single vehicle crashes in which a driver lost control or ran off the road, 18 per cent were intersection collisions, 10 per cent were collisions with obstructions or rear end collisions and 9 per cent were head-on collisions.