Road toll keeps climbing
Motorcyclist travelling as part of a group dies after hitting fence near Matamata
The holiday road toll rose from four to five after a motorcyclist left the road and hit a fence south of Matamata yesterday. The toll at the same time last year — when four people died in crashes — has now been surpassed and with moderate to heavy traffic expected for the holiday highways again today, people are being urged to take care and expect delays.
The victim of yesterday afternoon’s accident, on State Highway 28 in Rapurapu Rd in Te Poi, was a 65-year-old Tauranga man.
A police spokesman said the man, who was part of a group of motorcyclists, died when he left the road and hit a fence.
The holiday road toll period officially started at 4pm on Christmas Eve and finishes at 6am on January 5. A yacht to borrow, a tug out to shore and hot meals were among the gestures of support offered to the couple whose yacht home beached at Ruakaka in Northland.
Retired sailor Geoff Phillips, 77, said he was “blown away” by people’s generosity since he and his wife Aylin lost most of their possessions when their yacht grounded on Saturday morning. “It’s just
marvel-
Last year, there were 14 fatal crashes by the end of the 2014 holiday period.
In the first fatality of the holiday period, a French tourist died in a three-car crash in Northland on Christmas Day.
His female passenger and one of the other drivers suffered serious injuries, and two children were treated for minor injuries.
Initial investigations showed the French man’s rental car crossed the centre line and collided with the other vehicles.
Then on Boxing Day, two women from the same family died in a headon crash after leaving a family gettogether.
The crash happened just south of Tokoroa on State Highway 1.
The fourth death was a 57-year-old cyclist who died from his injuries on Sunday following a road accident in Ranui, West Auckland, on Christmas Day. lous . . . people have taken us into their homes and fed us, everybody is trying to help.”
After several failed attempts to refloat the yacht, it was likely to be broken up on the spot and taken to the junkyard.
Mr Phillips said there was no shortage of offers to help pull the boat back out to sea, but because of damage to the hull there was no guarantee it would stay afloat.
“It breaks our heart, but we have now been advised we should break her up on the beach . . .
“It was just an idiot moment,” he said of the yacht’s grounding.
Mr Phillips had been trying to help his wife who was in a dinghy but got stuck in the shallow
water. He said the vessel
Meanwhile, emergency services continue to respond to a growing number of road incidents around the country as holidaymakers leave the main centres.
NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) spokeswoman Rua Pani said while most roads around the country were running smoothly yesterday, the longest delays were on State Highway 1 north of Auckland.
“People, if they’re heading up north, particularly through Wellsford and Warkworth, just need to expect delays and be prepared for that.”
NZTA is again expecting heavy traffic on State Highway 1 today near was their home with all their personal belongings inside.
The experienced sailor had set out from Australia in 2001 to sail around the world, but after a tour around New Zealand he decided to make himself at home.
“We have been living on the boat for the past five or six years. It was the most comfortable place that we’d filled with our personal belongings . . . it was our baby, our home.”
The couple had third party insurance and their contents were not covered, meaning they’d have to start again from scratch.
He said the yacht’s grounding had made him realise now might be the time to make a new home on dry ground.
People, if they’re heading up north . . . just need to expect delays and be
prepared for that.
Whangarei, Puhoi, Taihape and Waikanae, and on State Highway 2 between Paeroa and Tauranga.
At one point yesterday, at the turnoff to State Highway 2 for Tauranga and the Coromandel, traffic was backed up for several kilometres.
In an incident in the northbound lanes near the East Tamaki turnoff, an ambulance and two fire trucks attended a crash between two cars.
Further north, a car collided with a power pole outside the Matakana Fire Station on Omaha Flats Rd about 1.20pm.
A Fire Service spokesman said power lines came down over the car as a result of the crash, but all occupants managed to exit the vehicle and no one was injured.
Meanwhile in Southland, a single vehicle crash on State Highway 94 between Riversdale and Balfour left a woman with serious leg injuries.
NZTA spokeswoman Rua Pani