Child seriously hurt in truck, car crash
A 4-YEAR-OLD girl has suffered serious head and face injuries in a crash with a fully laden logging truck outside Napier Airport.
The girl was in the back of a people-mover that was leaving the airport about 1.15pm.
Police said the vehicle pulled on to State Highway 2 into the path of the northbound truck.
All four occupants were taken to Hawke’s Bay Regional Hospital, where the girl was in a serious but stable condition last night.
Two women in their 30s and an elderly woman were in a stable condition. The truck driver was uninjured, but badly shaken.
Residents said they heard a huge crash. Several rushed to the vehicle, which had been spun around several times.
Jo O’Donnell said the driver of the people-mover was ‘‘very, very shaken’’.
‘‘The wee girl was obviously in a very bad way. She was crying and just very distraught. They were all so lucky to get out of it alive, they really, really were.’’
A car behind the people-mover contained air cabin crew, who also rushed to assist.
There were frequent near-misses at the site, Ms O’Donnell said. ‘‘We often hear the truck drivers sitting on their horns. I feel for the truck drivers. They see it all coming and there’s nothing they can do.’’
She said she was aware there had been talk by Napier City Council to alter the entrance to the airport over the years and felt the sooner it was done the better.
The stretch of highway has been an 80kmh zone since 2011. The New Zealand Transport Agency reduced the speed limit from 100kmh to improve safety for the high volumes of visitors expected for the Rugby World Cup.
The speed limit was later made permanent by the council.