Horror crash claims two lives
Post-crash scenes ‘will stick with me for a long time’
‘‘It’s summer-time, there are more cars on the road. It’s a reminder for everyone to take extra care. ’’
Ash Tanner
Matamata-Piako District mayor
‘‘What I saw will stick with me for a long time,’’ says the man first on the scene of a crash that killed two people.
Police were called to the three-car crash on State Highway 26 at Eureka, between Hamilton and Morrinsville, shortly before 2pm last Tuesday.
Before they arrived, a man who lives nearby rushed out to find a man, woman, and baby in a black vehicle, which was most damaged in the crash.
People from two other cars had already escaped, said the man, who spoke to Stuff on the basis of anonymity.
He said the man in the black vehicle was distraught but able to move, and the woman was ‘‘cut up’’ and badly trapped in the driver seat.
The driver door had been ripped off in the crash.
The man told Stuff he reached into the back seat to check for the baby’s pulse, but it was too late. He said the baby was tiny, likely only a month old.
Everyone who was able to get out of their vehicle safely had, and all he could do was wait for emergency services.
The three to four minutes felt like an eternity to him.
‘‘The people in the other two cars were just in shock,’’ he said.
One vehicle caught fire, the man said, but the occupant had already escaped.
Three people were injured in the three-car crash, one seriously and two with moderate injuries, police said in a statement.
The man told Stuff he had lived near the intersection for four years, and was shocked this was the first major crash.
He said maize obscured the view of people coming around the corner from Morrinsville, and turning into Hinton Rd.
The speed limit was 100kmh, which he said was too fast.
The man said motorcycles flew around the corner at 120km an hour, and people overtook each other, forgetting that motorists could be pulling out of Hinton Rd.
A third person died on Waikato roads last Tuesday, after a separate crash in Waitoa about 4.10pm.
The crash involved a car and a truck, and happened on Waihekau Rd.
Matamata Piako Mayor Ash Tanner said the crashes were a reminder to be careful on the roads.
‘‘It’s summer-time, there are more cars on the road. It’s a reminder for everyone to take extra care.
‘‘My thoughts are with the families and friends of those who were killed in the accidents.’’
Past work at his father-inlaw’s panel beating business gave Tanner a first-hand look at the damage road crashes cause.
‘‘It’s obviously devastating for those involved,’’ Tanner said.