Watch your following distances Waikato Police warn   2 Feb 2015

Watch your following distances Waikato Police warn following Karapiro fatal

With varying weather forecast and a holiday weekend looming, Waikato Police are urging motorists to watch their following distances after a serious crash on a busy highway led to the death of a woman in hospital yesterday.

Acting District Road Policing Manager, Inspector Dana McDonald, said the death yesterday in Waikato Hospital of 69-year-old Hamilton woman, Maureen Joan Davies, was a tragedy both the public and Police were working to prevent.

"At the time of Friday afternoon's crash on SH1 at Karapiro a member of the public was on the phone to Police reporting concerns about a woman driving a northbound white Mitsubishi Galant.

"It was described as allegedly weaving across the road.

Tragically, as Police were responding the Galant has collided with Mrs Davies' Toyota Echo that was also in the northbound lane but stationary in a line of traffic halted for road works."

Mr McDonald said Mrs Davies was seriously injured in the crash and was airlifted to Waikato Hospital with serious injuries however she died in hospital early yesterday morning.

"The crash is being investigated by the Serious Crash Unit and we are appealing for any witnesses who haven't already spoken to officers to make contact with Cambridge Police on 07 827 5531.

"While it's too early to speculate on the cause of the crash we can confirm this incident was one of 23 collisions attended by Police over the weekend, several of which occurred in wet weather."

Mr McDonald said with this Friday being Waitangi Day popular holiday weekend routes such as SH29 over the Kaimai Range and SH25/SH25A around the Coromandel Peninsula were expected to have heavier than normal traffic flows.

"What we see in the Coromandel in particular over the summer holidays is an area served by rural roads with a population of 15-30,000 swell to over 130,000.

One of the challenges associated with this is people come off the northern motorways on to our rural road network needing to adjust their driving habits.

"An example of this was last week on Auckland Anniversary Day when a motorist 18th in a line of 21 cars on SH25 tried to pass number 17 in line on a bend and was on the wrong side of the road confronting a patrol car, what we need in these conditions is patience, not pace setting."

Mr McDonald said Police would be maintaining a highly visible presence on Waikato roads this week with the reopening of schools and an even greater presence on the roads this Waitangi weekend.

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