Waikato road toll up to eight deaths after a tragic weekend

A tragic weekend on the Waikato’s roads has increased the Waikato’s road toll to eight deaths for the month of February 2016 and 13 deaths for the 2016 year.

Officer in charge of the Waikato Highway Patrol, Senior Sergeant Stephen Ambler, said emergency services were called to the scene of a single motor vehicle crash on Scotsman valley road at about 10:00pm on Friday 26 February 2016, where the sole occupant of the vehicle died after he collided with a tree.

“A 19-year-old Hamilton man, Bradon Vincent, had been driving towards Hamilton and was following an associate when the crash occurred; no other vehicles were involved.

“For an as yet unknown reason, Mr Vincent’s motor vehicle has left the road and crashed into a tree.

Mr Ambler said it was too early to determine what the cause of the crash was and the matter is still under investigation by the Waikato Serious Crash Unit.

Another crash currently under investigation occurred on SH3 on the out-skirts of Te Kuiti on Saturday 27 February 2016, at about 2:30pm which has also had devastating consequences for a number of families.

Three occupants of a north bound Mazda car are dead and 7-year-old girl is in Starship hospital with moderate injuries after the vehicle they were travelling in collided head on with a south-bound vehicle.

The two occupants of the other vehicle received moderate injuries.

The deceased are Leonard Marshall Mackey a 59-year-old male of Ashburton, Leonie Angela Berger a 45-year-old female from Northland and her son, 9-year-old Leroy Brown.

“While it’s too early to comment on specifics of these crashes or what may have caused them, what I would like to say is this is a tragic loss of life and something that weigh heavily in the hearts and minds of all of the officers that have had something to do with attending these harrowing incidents, says Snr Sgt Ambler”.

The NZ Police offers its collective condolences and sympathies to the families and the wider communities that are suffering due to these tragic events.

The road is a dangerous environment and nothing but full attention and care is enough when you are in charge of any motor vehicle.

This week Police are targeting people not wearing restraints in a national operation.

This is due to more and more people not wearing seatbelts and an increase in deaths due to this.
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