Waikato Police say Christmas will probably never be the same again for two families following the death of a pedestrian on a busy road north of Hamilton overnight.
District Road Policing Manager, Inspector Leo Tooman, said Serious Crash Unit investigators are still working to establish the circumstances leading up to the incident which happened on SH1 at Horotiu about 9.30pm.
"It appears a man and a woman left a family function in a vehicle a short distance away and for some reason the car has stopped and parked up on the northbound safety shoulder.
"The man and woman have exited the vehicle and the 52-year-old woman appears to have strayed into the northbound lane of SH1 where she was struck by an oncoming courier van, suffering fatal injuries."
Mr Tooman said the driver of the van initially stopped at the scene but when confronted by angry relatives of the deceased fled a short distance for his own safety.
"On the arrival of Police the driver has presented himself to them and was interviewed, alcohol and speed were not factors on the part of the courier van driver and conditions at the time of the crash were fine and dry.
"This crash is undoubtedly a tragedy for the family of the deceased and brings the number of pedestrians killed on Waikato roads to nine this year and the District's road toll to 52 compared to a total of 48 for the whole of last year. The incident is also traumatic for the innocent party driving the courier van and no doubt Christmas will be a time of loss and reflection for both families."
Mr Tooman said unlike the rest of the country which is experiencing a record drop in the number of road fatalities this year the number of deaths on Waikato roads continues to climb.
"Our staff are out there, working alongside other emergency services, trying to save lives but we would rather prevent road trauma from occurring and to do that we need your help.
"We need friends, family and passengers of people intending to drive drunk to say its not ok, we need people to stand up and be counted and say excessive speed is also not ok and we all need to show a bit of patience on our roads at a time of very heavy traffic volumes."
Meanwhile Waikato Police have released the name of a man killed when struck by a train on railway lines in Te Kuiti on Christmas Eve.
He was Chance Blake Tama MULLIGAN-GREEN, 25, of Hamilton.
Police do not believe Mr MULLIGAN-GREEN'S death was suspicious and are not looking for anyone else in connection with his death which has been reported to the Coroner.
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