Three fatal crashes in a fortnight on highway south of Blenheim
Sunday, 19 July 2020
Marlborough’s third fatal crash in about a fortnight on State Highway 1 has sparked pleas for careful driving on rural winter roads.
While the aunt of a “kind, gentle” young man who died in one of the crashes says she hopes no other family has to go through the death of a loved one.
An SUV and a ute collided head-on, just south of the Smiths Overbridge, about eight kilometres south of Blenheim, about 6.50am on Friday.
One person died at the scene. A second person was flown to Wellington Hospital in a critical condition but was in a stable condition on Sunday. A third person was taken to Wairau Hospital in Blenheim and discharged on Friday.
**READ MORE:
* Damian James Pollock named as driver in fatal Seddon crash
* One person dead in Marlborough State Highway 1 crash
* One dead after crash near Seddon, Marlborough
**
Five days earlier, a car rolled on SH1, just north of the Riverlands truck stop, about 3km north of Friday’s crash. The sole occupant died at the scene, about 6pm on July 12. Police have not released the driver’s name.
The week before, Damian James Pollock, 27, died when his ute went off the highway about 2km south of Seddon on July 1. The three fatal crashes happened on the same south Marlborough highway, over a 20km stretch.
Pollock's aunt Theresa Pollock said her heart sank when she heard of a third fatality on the highway. She was already anxious about family driving on the highway, and momentarily feared Friday’s crash involved one of them, she said.
“I just really hope that whoever is looking after the roads, that they have been upgraded to where they need to be. I would hate for another family to go through losing somebody else.”
The news of Damian’s death 16 days earlier was a shock. The Ward resident was excited about his new job as a fisheries worker, and was driving home from Picton after work when the crash happened, about 11pm on July 1, she said.
Damian was a “kind, gentle young man” who loved painting and reading, and played hockey at Marlborough Boys’ College. He loved fishing and kayaking, although he could not swim, she said.
“He was always checking his pockets because he was always losing something.”
A police spokeswoman said the causes of the three crashes were still being investigated. The process often took several months, she said.
Marlborough District Council’s regional transport committee chairman Francis Maher said he found the series of fatal crashes “really shocking and very upsetting”.
However, he could not say whether the quality of the road was a causative factor.
“I think there is always improvement potential on all of our roads. We’ve got hundreds of kilometres of roading in Marlborough, and accidents happen in many different places.”
The Weld Pass area south of Blenheim needed attention and the committee was discussing it with Waka Kotahi NZTA officials, he said.
There had been more than a dozen serious crashes since 2015 between Blenheim and Seddon, where the highway passed through the hills separating the Awatere and Wairau valleys.
A truck and trailer rolled north of Redwood Pass Rd in June. A three-vehicle crash at Riverlands put five people in hospital in May.
The transport agency set aside $16 million for upgrades to Weld Pass, announcing in 2018 the work could include safety barriers to stop drivers going off the edge, and barriers down centre lines to stop head-on collisions.
But this week an NZTA official said there was no construction funding available for the Weld Pass project during the current three-yearly National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) funding period from 2018 to 2021.
The agency was discussing projects for the next three-year funding period with the council, he said.
In May, AA recommended reconstruction and realignment of SH1 Weld Pass as a priority.
Marlborough prevention manager Senior Sergeant Peter Payne urged drivers to take extra care on the roads, particularly at the moment with the wet, wintry conditions.
“Everyone has a part to play when you’re out driving. Following simple road rules and safe driving habits can literally save your life.
“Too many people have lost family members and loved ones already.'
Marlborough highway patrol acting team leader Sergeant Andy Holmes said while it was too early to say what led to Friday’s crash, the conditions were drizzly and the driver would have had low visibility, 30 minutes before dawn.
“If you drive to the conditions, and change your speed accordingly, you reduce the risk of crashing significantly,” Holmes said.
Speed was also an ongoing problem on State Highway 1, as an arterial route to the ferries at Picton, Holmes said.
Police noticed some driver errors were frequent factors in serious and fatal crashes, he said.
“We’re getting people on cellphones so often, or just not wearing seatbelts – two simple things that are costing lives,” Holmes said.
“And we often find people don’t allow extra time for roadworks. It’s really important people keep up to date with NZTA alerts, check for delays and factor that in before you leave.”
He also asked motorists ensure vehicles were roadworthy.
“There’s been quite a bit of leeway over the Covid-19 period around WOFs, but testing stations are now open.”
Blenheim resident Grant Burnett, 60, said he travelled on that stretch of road almost every day.
“This road needs upgrading, and Weld Pass especially is shocking for a State Highway.
“When I was a kid, I was told Weld Pass was going to be straightened up.” That had not yet happened, he said.
“We own horses and while towing horse floats, there is nowhere to pull over,” Burnett said.
Dean Wilson, 18, moved from the West Coast to Seddon about a year ago, and he said he was a frequent user of the road. He was used to the road, but it’s still quite scary going down it sometimes.”
Blenheim resident Mel King, 28, works in Seddon and travels this road every day. He said black ice was the main issue.
“I really don’t know why there is so many crashes on this road,” King said.
“The only time I’ve almost crashed in my life was on this road, I spun out on some black ice.
“Lucky it was [early] in the morning and nobody was on the road, I ended up on the other side of the road,” he said.