Car crashes have been on the rise in the region since the move to Alert Level 2. PHOTOS/FILE
Police will be visible for the long weekend
KAREN COLTMAN
[email protected]
Car crashes have increased over the past two weeks as people returned to school and work.
The accidents the Times-Age know of include: a young driver failing to take a corner in Martinborough and crashing; a van turning into a car with a mother transporting her two children in Masterton [pictured below]; a driver crashing into the back of a truck in Carterton; a driver failing to give way and smashing the front of their Nissan Micra into a larger vehicle in Masterton [pictured right]; and on Thursday morning, a nose to tail crash in Greytown resulted in the back of a car being completely smashed in [pictured above].
“Failing to give way and failure to keep alert to changes in road conditions, or alert to other road users have been factors in some of the more recent vehicle accidents around Wairarapa,” Senior Sergeant Jennifer Hansen said.
Most of these incidents have been minor, with the exception of the hit and run event in Carterton in the early hours of last Friday.
Hansen says the combination of gatherings of up to 100 allowed from yesterday, and a long Queen’s Birthday Weekend meant there was potential for higher-than-normal traffic volume over the next few days. The message from police was to “play it safe”.
“Patience is key when driving, following at safe distances and ensuring clear visibility and space prior to overtaking or pulling out from an intersection is important,” Hansen said.
Police and the NZ Transport Agency issued a combined media statement on Thursday with the message, “Be kind and take extra care on the road this weekend”.
“As people prepare to go away for the first long weekend since lockdown, we want to remind them they will be sharing the road with a lot more people than they’ve been used to for a while,” Acting Superintendent Gini Welch, national manager for road policing said. “And with more people comes more risk.
“We remind people that there will be traffic and there will be hold-ups, so it’s important to stay calm and patient. The important thing is arriving at your destination safely.”
Bad weather is also forecast for the weekend.
“Ice, fog, rain, and snow can all make for treacherous road conditions, so it’s important to allow extra time for your journeys and drive to the road and weather conditions,” Welch said.
Periodic rain is forecast in Wairarapa today, tomorrow and Monday.
Police plan to be “highly visible” on the roads throughout the long weekend.
