/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/IQFN7HJ7DFCDVC57M3QQKTJZ2Y.JPG "Woman critically injured after being hit by car in Tāneatua, Whakatāne – NZ Herald")
A woman has been critically injured after a car hit her in a small town near Whakatāne.
She was flown to hospital after the collision on Tāneatua’s Grace Rd.
Police have closed a section of the road to allow their Serious Crash Unit to examine the scene.
The incident was reported to police at 12.15pm on Monday.
Holiday road toll at 15
Fifteen people have died on New Zealand roads over the Christmas holiday period as of New Year’s Day.
But police said despite crashes on our roads being the leading cause of death, the 340 road-related deaths in 2023 were down 34 from last year.
The holiday toll period started on December 22 at 4pm and officially ends at 6am on January 3.
Police have named Pāpāmoa man Brayden Tawa, 27, Hamilton woman Louise Quinn, and Aucklander Wenxuan Li, 22, among those who tragically lost their lives in fatal crashes during the holidays.
Tawa was killed in a crash between a car and a truck at the intersection of Aerodrome Rd and Hewletts Rd/State Highway 2, Mount Mauganui, on December 27.
Police said Tawa was the front-seat passenger of the car, and the driver and a back-seat passenger survived the crash with minor injuries, as did the driver of the truck.
Quinn was found dead after falling off a quad bike on Rauparaha St in Marokopa, which the Herald understands is her holiday home in rural Waikato.
Wenxuan Li died after a serious crash at Whakamaru shortly before 1.30pm, two days before Christmas.
Police said Li was an Auckland resident and inquiries into the circumstances were ongoing.
Two separate car crashes in Christchurch and Te Puru in the lead-up to New Year’s Eve took the holiday road toll to 15.
Two people died in a crash between two cars and a motorbike in Tunnel Rd in Christchurch shortly before midnight on Saturday.
Two others suffered critical injuries and one other person was seriously injured, police said.
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About 8.45pm on Saturday, a person was killed when a car crashed into water in Te Puru in the Coromandel.
Two others suffered critical injuries and one other person was seriously injured, police said.
On December 28, two people died as a result of a crash between a car and a petrol tanker west of the Kaimāī Summit.
Other fatal crashes this holiday period include a person dying in a crash in Prebbleton, southwest of Christchurch on Boxing Day.
