Parents died on safer road
Speed reductions were enforced just months before a couple were killed and their baby injured in a crash on the outskirts of Cambridge.
The loss on the safer corner has left the wider family ‘‘devastated beyond measure’’.
Christopher O’Byrne, 32, and Brenda Kora, 31, were killed in a crash on Cambridge Rd on Saturday afternoon. They were travelling south at the time when their car lost control on a corner and went into a clockwise rotation with an Isuzu light truck consequently T-boning the passenger side of the vehicle, according to police.
Their nine-month-old baby, Eli, survived the crash.
A witness at the crash scene said they found Eli in his capsule covered in something that looked like grease.
He was awake and crying. Yesterday the couple’s family issued a public statement in which they thanked everyone for their support during this tragic time.
‘‘We would like to make special mention of the members of the public and emergency services that did their very best to help Chris, Brenda and little Eli at the scene and afterwards,’’ they wrote. ‘‘You are our heroes and you have our undying heartfelt gratitude for all that you do’’.
They said the couple’s other son Riley, who was Brenda’s son from a previous relationship, was with family, while Eli was still in Waikato Hospital where he was receiving ‘‘outstanding care and is surrounded by family’’.
‘‘We are pleased to report he is improving every day.
‘‘We would like to thank everyone that has donated to Riley and Eli’s Givealittle page, we are humbled by the generosity you have shown us.’’
As of yesterday morning, the page had raised
$17,000. Road speed reductions and large warning signs are among the measures Waipa¯ District Council is using to improve safety on the road where the couple were killed. Cambridge Rd is a busy arterial route between Cambridge and Te Awamutu.
In the past five years there have been 111 crashes on the
20km stretch of road between the two towns, the council said.
During the same period, there were 16 loss of control crashes at the bend where Saturday’s fatal crash occurred.
Most of those crashes, 14, involved traffic heading toward Cambridge and six of those crashes involved injuries.
The council installed large speed advisory signs and a guardrail around the curve of the road to stop cars dropping down a bank.
This section of road, from south of the Kaipaki Rd intersection to the Cambridge urban area, had its speed limit lowered from 100kmh to 80kmh in November 2019.
‘‘The reasons for lowering this speed limit included the major intersections, curving road alignment and past crashes,’’ the council said.
It was one of about 200 speed limit changes made by the council to ensure roads continued to be safe for the 25,000 extra people expected to live in the district by 2050.
The council is responsible for 1099km of road across residential and rural communities.
In 2018 it went out to public consultation to ask people to help identify ‘‘risky roads’’.
A total of 336 submissions were made and 59 per cent said speed made their road unsafe, 31 per cent wanted better pedestrian safety areas and 67 per cent thought speed was relevant to pedestrian safety.
Statistics from the Waipa¯ District Road Safety Analysis 2017, showed each year on average there are 240 crashes, two people die, 91 people are injured and 18 are seriously hurt.
The council used the research to change and lower speed limits around the district last year.
Waipa¯’s community leaders said they were devastated by Saturday’s fatal crash. Mayor Jim Mylchreest and deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk, who was also a Cambridge ward councillor, said driving to the conditions of the day and not using the speed limit ‘‘as a target’’ remained two of the key messages they want drivers to think about.