Name release Karapiro

29 September 2009 Five seconds, that's all the difference between seven families having their loved ones present at the Christmas dinner table this summer and them not. Waikato Road Policing Manager, Inspector Leo Tooman, said on average it took less than five seconds for someone to do up their seatbelt. "And yesterday afternoon a man driving a van while not wearing a seatbelt died when he was thrown from his over-turning vehicle in a crash on SH1 at Karapiro. "Ben Tuala of Otara in South Auckland was 35 when he died and he is the seventh person to die in similar circumstances on roads in our District this year." Mr TUALA'S death is the subject of an ongoing crash investigation but it is assessed driver fatigue and the failure to wear a seatbelt were significant factors. The other fatalities include a 21-year-old man thrown from his vehicle in a crash in Bennydale on 13 January and a man killed when thrown from his car in a crash near Taupiri on 15 February. "Then there was a 68-year-old Hamilton man killed thrown from his car in a crash at Horotiu in March, though suffering serious injury his wife, who was wearing a seatbelt survived the crash. "Overnight on the 21/22 April two men, one aged 22, the other aged 47 died in separate crashes near Paeroa and Te Kauwhata. In the Te Kauwhata crash the 47-year-old man was thrown from the vehicle and died while a 14-year-old passenger who was wearing a seatbelt survived." Mr Tooman said in the majority of cases, though serious, the crashes were survivable if the deceased parties had been wearing seatbelts. "It's particularly concerning given the degree of importance vehicle restraints have been assigned in this District. In March while the rest of the country focused on a National Restraint Week we initiated a restraint month in conjunction with ACC. "Perhaps it's a macho thing, in each case the fatally injured parties have been male, is it a case families are left without their loved ones this Christmas simply because it's not manly to wear a seatbelt- that would be a very selfish attitude," he said. With one avoidable death being too many Police will be taking a zero tolerance approach towards seatbelt and car restraint compliance. "A warning is just that, a warning. These are too easily forgotten however if you sting someone's back pocket they're more likely to remember it and not repeat the offence. "The stakes are quite high but we believe it's better to suffer a financial hit than for a family to suffer the pain of the permanent loss of a loved one in the way seven Kiwi families have in this District already this year." End