Plead for care on roads after grim two days

Every loss of life is a tragedy, police said yesterday, as they begged the public to take better care on the roads.

From Saturday to edition time yesterday eight people had been killed on North Island roads — five in four separate crashes in the Waikato and three in a single-vehicle collision in Northland.

Several people, including a child and a baby, have also reportedly been hurt in the crashes.

Following the latest fatal crash near Waitomo yesterday afternoon, police and the NZ Transport Agency released a statement begging the public to be more careful.

Police acting national manager of road policing, Inspector Gini Welch, said it was too early to be sure what caused the crashes — but most deaths that happen on New Zealand’s roads were avoidable.

“Every loss of life on our roads is a tragedy and these deaths will have a major impact both on individual families and wider communities,” Welch said.

“Police work closely alongside our road safety partners including the NZ Transport Agency, local authorities and the Ministry of Transport, but we need everybody to do their part in keeping our roads safe.”

NZTA senior manager of road safety Fabian Marsh urged drivers to remember the basics.

“All of us can make mistakes and we are all vulnerable in a crash. But we can all take a few simple steps to make sure a mistake doesn’t result in loss of life or limb.”

These included making sure everyone was wearing a seatbelt, avoiding distractions like cellphones, keeping to speed limits and never driving while intoxicated, he said.