Police plea for care as 7 die on roads

A horror start to the holiday period on the roads left seven people dead and many families grieving instead of celebrating.

Police are pleading with motorists to drive carefully to avoid more deaths. They warn they will be taking a hard line against speeding motorists and issuing plenty of tickets.

Among motorists already caught is a 73-year-old Wellington woman driving at 130kmh. Another was clocked at 139kmh.

Seven people have died in the past three days. At 377, the toll is already 12 more than for all of 2008.

Within hours of the official holiday period starting, a man became the first fatality when his car left the road and rolled down a bank on State Highway 1 between Ngaruawahia and Taupiri about 1.20am yesterday. Police said the sole occupant, believed to be in his 30s, was found thrown from the vehicle. He died about two hours later in hospital.

On Christmas Eve two people were killed when their 4WD vehicle lost control on a road near Tikitiki on the remote East Cape, flipping several times before hitting a power pole. A third person in the car was seriously hurt.

About the same time a middle-aged man died when his car failed to take a corner and crashed down a 10-metre bank and into a creek near Huntly in Waikato. He was seen weaving within his lane by a following motorist.

Another person died in a crash near Napier on Thursday, forcing emergency services to close the expressway link between Napier and Hastings.

A day earlier a 67-year-old Tongan woman from Wellington died on her way to a family reunion in Hawke's Bay. Lapaula Funaki was a passenger in a car whose driver lost control on SH2 at Hamua, northeast of Masterton.

A few hours before, an elderly woman died after crashing her car into a power pole in Miramar.

- © Fairfax NZ News