Winiata’s Blog

Friday, January 8^th, at 8pm.

The Serious Crash Unit Team are called to a major head on crash between two passenger cars. Six people have been killed and three are rushed to hospital. The team must now piece together clues from the forensic evidence at the scene, and work backwards to determine the cause of this tragic accident.

It’s a fine clear afternoon in early January. A 1973 HQ Holden is travelling north on the Napier-Taupo highway. The driver behind the wheel is 28 year old Kendrick Tahakawa Lambert, a mechanic who has spent hours rebuilding the V8 motor and restoring the car both inside and out. He has added duel fuel, a grunty exhaust, and has had the car professionally repainted in original Holden gold. Everything is in mint condition. He is taking his brother Charlie and their parents to Auckland. They are travelling on a straight piece of road, with absolutely no idea what awaits them ahead.

Suddenly and without warning, a white car going the opposite way comes around the bend entirely on the wrong side of the road. With only seconds to react, the Holden driver slams on his brakes and his car skids in a straight line.

But the driver of the white car does not brake. The resulting impact is similar to hitting a brick wall at 175kms per hour. In a split second the Holden’s motor is violently shunted into the front seat. The passenger dies on impact, and the driver survives the initial impact but has extensive internal injuries. He is pinned to his seat by the steering column, but dies an hour later after emergency services finally free him from his car.

Total no. of fatalities – seven. From the white car, four – the driver, his two front seat passengers, and a third child in the back seat. From the Holden, three – the driver, his dad, and later his mum will die from the injuries she has sustained.

The SCU Team investigates the environment, the vehicles, and the drivers involved. Road conditions are excellent, and the Holden was in perfect working order. However, the white car was in relatively poor condition. It is revealed later that the driver of the white car had been drinking. He was sleep deprived, and his car had no warrant, no registration, and no headlights. He had two kids under12 strapped into the front seat of his car.

Here are some statistics I looked up for 2004. Drink driving killed 135 people on NZ roads in 2004. It also contributed to 31% of all fatal road crashes. If a driver drinks alcohol it slows his reaction time, it dulls his judgement, it impairs his vision and affects his ability to drive. A driver who drinks is 3 times more likely to be involved in a serious crash than a driver who is sober.

What is the single biggest road safety issue in NZ today? It’s speed – drivers are going too fast for the conditions. In 2004 speed was a factor in 39% of all road deaths and 19% of all reported injuries from road crashes.

What is fatigue? It means being really tired. The most common effects of fatigue on drivers are – the driver can’t concentrate, they may drift across the road, or even off the road, and reaction time in dangerous situations is a lot slower than normal. In NZ between 2002 and 2004, driver fatigue was identified as a contributing factor in 134 fatal crashes and in 1,703 reported injuries.             

When I looked at the bigger picture, I realised that drink driving, speed and driver fatigue put all together has contributed to 71%, or almost 3/4 of all fatal road accidents. We hear this message all the time, but people still keep drinking, keep speeding and keep driving when they’re tired. What will it take for us to ‘wake up’ and pay attention? Why isn’t the message getting through?

The driver of the white car made a lot of really stupid mistakes that day. Putting two kids together in the same front seat, well…that’s just dumb & irresponsible. Driving a car with no head-lights, no warrant, no rego, and not enough sleep after drinking well…that’s just ludicrous. He probably fell asleep at the wheel – we’ll never know, because dead men don’t talk.

The Holden driver who died that day had done the exact same trip one week earlier. He knew the road well, and his car was perfect in every way. On the earlier trip, he had taken his wife and his two sons, aged 3 & 4 year old, to Hamilton. That 3 yr old boy was ME, and the Holden driver was my dad. The other two people who died in the Holden, they were my grandparents.

Far too many kiwis still think that this will never happen to them. The Serious Crash Unit proves that tragedies can occur any time, to anyone, especially when you least expect it. This teaches us that we all must make good choices to be safe on our roads. Don’t wait until one stupid idiot drinks, gets behind the wheel of an unsafe car, heads out onto the road and ends up destroying YOUR family. Be a real hero – drive sober, drive slowly and drive sensibly.