Driver with serious injuries airlifted

A man was airlifted to Whanga¯rei Hospital with injuries described as lifethreatening after a twovehicle head-on crash on State Highway 1, 400m north of Kawakawa’s Three Bridges, at 12.20am on Thursday.

Kawakawa’s Chief Fire Officer, Wayne Martin, said the driver, who was the sole occupant of his vehicle, had to be cut free. He was initially taken to Bay of Islands Hospital, then flown to Whanga¯rei by the rescue helicopter.

The two occupants of the other vehicle were not hurt.

A little over an hour later emergency services were called to a single-vehicle crash on State Highway 11 near Paihia, the driver (and sole occupant), who was not hurt, losing control while descending a hill near Te Haumi, the vehicle crashing into a bank. The Bream Bay / greater Whanga¯rei areas came up trumps in last week’s Northland DHB / police controlled purchase operation, aimed at checking that alcohol was not being sold to underage customers. None of the 15 premises visited made sales, but it was a different story in the Far North.

Fifteen visits there resulted in three illegal sales to 17-yearold volunteers.

Mid / Far North alcohol harm prevention officer Senior Constable Rasau Kalivati said that result was very disappointing,

“I cannot stress strongly enough that holders of a liquor licence should ask for identification if they are in doubt of the age of a customer, or where the customer appears under 25 years of age,” he said.

“If identification is produced, the seller must verify the correct age before making a sale.

“As a community, we need to have confidence that licence holders will not sell alcohol to our youth.”

Police were “following up” with those premises that made the illegal sale.

Senior Constable Kalivati’s Whanga¯rei counterpart, Sergeant Tai Patrick, said the result in the southern area had been very good. All the licensed premises tested had good systems in place, and asked for identification on every occasion.