Napier-Taupō road partially reopens after serious crash in Te Haroto

Wednesday, 1 July 2020

Police officers were called to the crash on State Highway 5 in Te Haroto at 4.40pm on Wednesday (file photo).

Four people have been injured after a serious crash on State Highway 5 in Te Haroto.

Emergency services were called to a crash after a car hit a power pole on the Napier-Taupō road at 4.40pm on Wednesday.

In a statement Wednesday evening, police said the road had partially reopened to light vehicles after earlier closing it.

However, traffic management remained in place while a power pole and lines were being cleared from the crash site.

* Serious injuries in crash off State Highway 5

The road had been closed between the snow gates at Eskdale and the gates east of the Mitre Ten complex in Taupō, with cars travelling on SH5 being turned back by police officers.

St John Ambulance Hawke's Bay territory manager Brendon Hutchinson has been tending to victims of crashes on the road for 18 years (File photo).

Three people had been seriously injured and one person had minor injuries, police said.

The incident follows the death of ten-year-old Teang Atauea, who died in Hawke's Bay Hospital after a crash on the same road on June 23.

Teang was one of five people injured in the single-vehicle crash at the intersection of SH5 and Mcvicar Rd.

The girl, from Wairoa, was described by her primary school as 'a kind and caring young lady with a beautiful smile'.

HAWKE'S BAY'S TWISTED ROAD

From December 2019 to May this year, seven people had already died on the Napier-Taupō road and that number continues to rise.

St John Ambulance Hawke's Bay territory manager Brendon Hutchinson has been tending to victims of crashes on the road for 18 years.

He estimated he would make at least 20 trips a year to serious crashes on SH5.

'I wouldn't say there are any more crashes now than there used to be. It's always been steady,' he said.

'It is a road that needs your full attention.'

Hawke's Bay road policing manager Matt Broderick said SH5 had always been a challenging road.

'It has its twists and turns, inclines and declines, like most roads that go over mountainous regions.'

Thousands of people drove the road every year. 'People make mistakes … the environment either forgives those mistakes or exacerbates them.

Hawke's Bay AA chairman Paul Michaelsen said they were 'deeply disappointed' with the amount of accidents that had been occurring on SH5.

Taupō Mayor David Trewavas said the Taupō side of the road comprised long, straight stretches, unlike the Hawke's Bay side, and was not of high concern compared to other highways in the district.

'But we know that road is well-used. A third of our $750 million domestic tourism spend comes from Hawke's Bay,' Trewavas said.