Road toll: 10 dead in first nine days of 2024

Nine days into the new year and 10 people have already died on the roads. That figure sits alongside the 21 people who died in road accidents during the Christmas-New Year's holiday period (some of whom are listed below as the period ran from December 21, 2023, to January 3 this year). Teenager Jade Richards was the first person to die on the roads this year when a car she was travelling in rolled just outside Rotorua on January 1.

The 18-year-old was one of three people in the car, but the other two occupants only received minor injuries, according to police. In a statement to the Rotorua Daily Post, the family say the teen was the "heart and soul" of the family and that she was looking forward to studying at Victoria University when the school year kicked off. "Jadey girl we love you so damn much.

We are all so proud of you and all that you have achieved, you have your own unique style, you are gorgeous inside and out, loved and adored by us all," they say in the statement. "We are heartbroken and in total disbelief that this has happened and our family is forever broken with our favourite piece missing." Only a day later, three people died in three separate crashes.

In another single-vehicle accident, a ute rolled on Waima Valley Rd in South Hokianga, killing a six-month-old travelling in the car. Serious Crash Unit investigator Jeff Cramp told RNZ that the driver lost control on a gravel road about 500 metres from home. The three other occupants - including the baby's parents - managed to walk to the nearest house with the badly injured infant, but the baby died before they were able to get to a hospital, says Jeff.

In the early hours of that day, father-of-one Eli Boyd Wallace died when his car hit a power pole around 3.30am on January 2, south of Kereta in the Coromandel. The American man's obituary says he "died tragically" and was father to a young son. Police are investigating the crash and ask any witnesses of the crash or those driving prior to the crash, or anyone with dash camera footage to come forward.

Earlier that day, emergency services rushed to a crash just after 2pm in Tauhei, northeast of Hamilton, where witnesses saw a rider come off their bike while rounding a corner. The rider, 68-year-old Peter James Kiely, from Hamilton, died at the scene. In a post on Facebook, his wife Colleen says "my best friend, husband and soulmate didn't return from his motorbike ride."

"He died doing what he loved, but the pain of losing him is beyond words." It was two days before another crash would claim the lives of two people in a high-speed crash on Broadlands Rd outside Taupo on January 5. Two people died at the scene, while another person was critically injured.

Taupo road policing manager senior sergeant Jason Henderson says one of the cars involved in the crash had been travelling in a line of several cars when the crash happened around 4.10pm, and police are hopeful of speaking to others who might've been travelling the road at the time. "The drivers or occupants of those vehicles may not have been aware of the collision but may have crucial information that could assist police." On January 7, a person died in a motorcycle crash on State Highway 94 [1], just south of the Homer Tunnel in Fiordland in a crash involving three motorbikes.

One of the riders died at the scene. Two other people were airlifted Lakes District hospital in a minor condition, says St John. Then on Monday, two people died after a multi-vehicle crash in Sefton [2], Canterbury, which happened just after 10am.

The vehicles were involved in an apparent head-on collision, after one crossed the centreline. Later on Monday, police announced the death of a motorcyclist on SH 4 at Waimarino, in the Ruapehu District. The crash was reported at 1.15pm but didn't involve anyone else [3], and the rider died at the scene, they say.

-Stuff.[4]

References

^ a person died in a motorcycle crash on State Highway 94 (www.stuff.co.nz)
^ two people died after a multi-vehicle crash in Sefton (www.stuff.co.nz)
^ was reported at 1.15pm but didn't involve anyone else (www.stuff.co.nz)
^ -Stuff. (www.stuff.co.nz)