One road death over Easter weekend, lowest number since level 4 lockdown
Tuesday, 11 April 2023
One person has died on New Zealand’s roads over the Easter holiday period.
The man, a motorcyclist, was involved in a crash on Auckland’s Southern Motorway at Manurewa on April 7.
“It appears the rider clipped a car as he swerved to avoid a collision,” a police spokesperson said on Tuesday morning.
“The 68-year-old male was taken to hospital in a critical condition, but sadly died on April 10.”
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The serious crash unit was investigating the collision, police said.
“Police would like to extend their condolences to the man’s family and loved ones.”
The holiday road toll is the lowest since 2020, when there were no fatal crashes over the long Easter weekend.
At that time, all of New Zealand was in a level 4 Covid-19 lockdown.
Prior to that, the last time the Easter road toll was zero was in 2012.
In 2021, seven people died on New Zealand's roads over the Easter holiday period – two in Wellington and one each in Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Northland, Waikato and Otago, according to Ministry of Transport figures.
In 2022, five people died – two in Otago, two in Canterbury and one in Bay of Plenty.
The highest number of Easter road deaths in recent years was 12 in 2010.
The official Easter road toll period began at 4pm on Thursday, April 6 and ended at 6am on Tuesday, April 11.
Road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson believed road improvements over the past year would have had a “huge effect” on road safety.
This included major state highways such as Transmission Gully, the Waikato Expressway and near Pūhoi in north Auckland, which were previously high risk areas.
Caroline Perry, the director of the road safety charity Brake Aotearoa New Zealand, said it was “pleasing” to see the road toll so low this year.
However, it’s “still so important for us all to keep road safety at the front of our minds”.
She hoped Aotearoa would continue to improve the safety of its roads in the coming years, so there would be more long weekends with few deaths on the roads.
”It’s also really important we remember that so far this year over 80 people have been killed on our roads, all of whom have families and loved ones that are still processing their loss.
“All road users play a part in reducing the risk of deaths on the road,” she said.
Police Superintendent Steve Greally said it was important drivers didn’t get complacent.
“I’m pleased the majority of drivers have had a happy and safe holiday period and haven’t had their Easter break devastated by that call from a Police officer telling them their loved one has died,” he said.
“However, we – alongside our road safety partners - are urging people to not accept that death and serious injury on our roads is inevitable.”
He said keeping safe on the roads wasn’t “rocket science”.
“Wear your seatbelt, don’t drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, remove distractions and slow down.”
A number of people were critically or seriously injured during further crashes over the weekend.
A motorbike rider suffered critical injuries in a collision with a car near Ngāruawāhia on Saturday.
The rider was understood to be a member of the Filthy Few gang.
While the cause of the crash was yet to be determined, one of the vehicles was believed to have been turning in to Havelock Rd when it collided with the other travelling along Great South Rd.
The injured man was rushed by St John Ambulance to Waikato Hospital with what were described by police as “life-threatening injuries”.
Two people were also badly injured after a crash in Southland on Friday morning.
One of the injured people was airlifted to Dunedin Hospital.
“One person has sustained critical injuries and another person has sustained serious injuries,” police said.