Friday, 8 December 2017 - 10:07am |
Waitematā

Three more people won’t be home for Christmas following two fatal crashes in Waitemata

2 min read

Waitemata Police are absolutely devastated that due to two fatal crashes yesterday evening, three members of our Rodney and West Auckland communities will not be home for Christmas.

The first crash occurred at approximately 8.10pm last night on Te Atatu Road in Te Atatu Peninsula. A cyclist was struck by a vehicle and despite efforts from members of the public to revive him, he died at the scene.

The victim was a 51-year-old man from Te Atatu Peninsula.

The second crash occurred at approximately 9.45pm following a head-on collision at the intersection of Dairy Flat Highway and Potter Road.

Two people from the same vehicle died upon impact, this includes the driver who was a 15-year-old female who did not have a licence and a 25-year-old male passenger. Both were from Orewa.

A third person in the vehicle is recovering in hospital after receiving serious injuries in the crash.

The sole occupant of the other vehicle was transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The Serious Crash Unit is investigating both crashes and the attending staff have been offered welfare as well as support from their colleagues.

Acting Waitemata Road Policing Manager Senior Sergeant Todd Moore-Carter says there is nothing worse for a police officer than having to knock on a person’s door and tell them that their husband, wife, brother, sister, son or daughter has died in a car crash.

“We had three people die overnight, and one is a teenage girl who had her whole life ahead of her. Our staff across Auckland have been working hard on keeping our roads safe, but we simply can’t do it without our communities help.”

“At times we get a lot of criticism for having our road policing teams out as people think we are just trying to give out tickets. We are out because we want to change dangerous and risky driving behaviour in the hope it will stop 15-year-old teenagers dying on our roads or 51-year-old men who were just out cycling. It would be the ultimate result for us if we didn’t have to give out any tickets because that would mean everyone was driving safely,” says Senior Sergeant Moore-Carter.

“We are really urging everyone to please take your driving behaviour seriously, no one who has ever been in a car crash would have thought it was going to happen them. Serious crashes can happen quickly but we know how preventable they are.”

Police and NZTA are working even closer over the summer period to try and educate our community around the risks associated with going too fast for the conditions, unrestrained vehicle occupants, impairment (such as fatigue, drugs, or alcohol), and distractions (such as using a cell phone).

Senior Sergeant Todd Moore-Carter is available for interviews today until 3pm.

ENDS
Shelley Nahr/NZ Police