Serious Injury Crash At Black Spot - UPDATE

At approximately 9.20pm last night, Emergency services were called to a serious crash at the intersection of State Highway 2B and Meeanee Quay, near the Hawke's Bay Airport, Napier.

Initial indications are that a Nissan Primera, that had been travelling north on State Highway 2B, turned right into Meeanee Quay directly in the path of a truck travelling in the opposite direction.

There were three occupants in the Nissan vehicle. The 20year old driver and front seat passenger had to be cut from the vehicle.

They are both currently in the Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital in a critical condition. The rear seat passenger is also in hospital in a serious condition.

The truck driver was in shock, but was uninjured. The truck was a fully laden with offal and had come from Te Kuiti.

Serious Crash team are investigating the crash, and at this stage there is no clear indication as to why the crash occurred.

The road was wet, and there was light drizzle at the time.

Whilst the intersection is well laid out, there have been a number of crashes at the location, including previous fatal crashes.

It has been identified by the New Zealand Transport Agency as an intersection that will be modified, most likely with a roundabout similar to that which has recently been installed at State Highway 2, Pakipaki. Current plans are for works to start in the 2016-2017 financial year.

Roundabouts reduce the angle and speed of side impact of crashes which reduce the nature of injuries when people make mistakes.

"It is too early to say what caused this crash, but previous crashes have generally been as the result of driver error. Under the Safer Systems approach, road safety partners continually work to reduce the risks on our roads, and even though there are no obvious faults with the design of the intersection, people should not die because they make a mistake", said Senior Sergeant Greg Brown, acting Road Policing Manager, Eastern.