More On The Tragic Death of Deborah Howell

The Marlborough Express has published further details about the tragic death of American journalist Deborah Howell, who died after being struck by a car near Blenheim on Saturday. Her husband said they were being transferred to accommodation by Marlborough Travel when his wife asked the driver to stop, because she wanted to take a photograph on Rapaura Rd:

The husband of a leading United States journalist killed while holidaying in Marlborough says his wife always told him to face reporters if anything happened to her. Former Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell, 68, a veteran newspaper editor, was fatally injured when she was struck by a car on Rapaura Rd, near Spring Creek, north of Blenheim, about 12.10pm Saturday.

She had stepped out of the car she was in to take a photograph when she was hit by an oncoming vehicle. Her husband, Peter Magrath, said he believed she was not used to cars driving on the left, and had looked the wrong way.

Sergeant Dan Mattison, of Blenheim, said Ms Howell was taken to Wairau Hospital by Blenheim St John Ambulance with serious injuries. She died soon after.

Mr Magrath, a former University of Minnesota president, agreed to talk to The Marlborough Express, because his wife always told him to face reporters. "You don't have to answer questions, but I would dishonour her if I didn't talk to reporters," Mr Magrath said"....read more here

Later news reports stated that the driver of the car that struck Ms Howell was not from the area. Police are investigating whether there are ground for charging her. The most common charge was likely to be careless driving causing death.

According to the report in the  Marlborough Express

"Rapaura Rd, also known as State Highway 62, has previously been labelled the most dangerous stretch of highway in New Zealand.


While the 12.7-kilometre stretch has a relatively low traffic volume, it was the scene of four fatal crashes and two serious injury crashes from 2002 to 2006."

 See also The disturbing toll on New Zealand's roads - The AA wants the Government to put more effort into studying the factors that lead to crashes.


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Spanish Tourists Not To Blame For Fatal Accident

The Northern Advocate has published a story confirming that Spanish tourists were not at fault in a fatal accident on state highway 1, 4km north of Towai (the road between Whangarei and Paihia) on December 22.

Joan Roma Serra and his partner Eva Fajula Rovira from Torello, a town  in  Catalonia, were both 34 years old, died when the camper van they were driving hit a truck and trailer head-on.

Very often tourists are too easily blamed for road smashes in NZ - either because of their inexperience of local driving conditions or because they're affected by jet-lag. It's good to see accident investigators managing to look beyond the nationality of the driver before reaching a conclusion as to the cause of an 'accident'. On this occasion the visitors were simply "in the wrong place at the wrong time" as it seems the truck was on their side of the road.

The stretch of road in question was said to be notorious among truck drivers, many of whom were wary of it. A temporary 70 km/hr limit has now been imposed "uneven surface" warning signs have been put up, why this didn't happen sooner is a mystery, perhaps the tourists' deaths may have been avoided if they had been. Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of the deceased couple for their sad loss.

Very often the nationality of tourists killed or injured on the roads isn't released  to the media and there seems to be no official data on the numbers of tourists involved every year, or of the types of vehicles they were driving. The true extent of the carnage may not be realised.

The last time we heard of Spanish tourists being injured was in August when a family, also travelling in a camper van, were injured in a smash in the Lindis Pass in Cantebury. The same month a French honeymooning couple were injured when their camper van collided with a logging truck north of Napier.

In another fatal smash in Northland in March two Swedish tourists were killed south of Whangarei just hours after they arrived in New Zealand (see blog post) at the time Whangarei police Sergeant Chris Goodall said the road had a "decided history of loss of control accident whenever it rains." and that although the road was three lanes wide there was a tendency for people to "fall off" and to lose concentration. The deceased were later named as 20 year old  Emelie Jenny Green and Theresia Andrea Johansson.  

According to the Herald it was the second fatal accident in the area in two days. Robert Watene, 22, died when his car and a truck collided on State Highway 1 near the Waipu turnoff, about 30km north of the Brynderwyn Hills.

In other posts we've highlighted on many occasions that according to AA information

• New Zealand's Road Safety to 2010 strategy forecasts that 42 lives a year could be saved by improvements in road engineering.
• Installing rumble strips on roads can reduce crashes by up to 27% by preventing run-off-road and head-on collisions.
• Installing a barrier along an embankment can reduce run-off-road casualty crashes by as much as 45%.

Yet scores of crashes are still occurring. Even though accident blackspots are well known about deaths and serious injuries are still happening. What will it take to reduce the carnage on New Zealand's roads?

Thinking of driving in NZ? See 'Accident Blackspots':  what a few of NZ's more infamous and unforgiving black spots look like.


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American Journalist Deborah Howell Dies On NZ Roadside

A well known and respected American journalist  Deborah Howell has been hit and killed whilst on holiday in New Zealand. Ms Howell died yesterday after a car hit her on Cravens Road, near Spring Creek at around 12.10pm, she was one of eleven people to die on NZ roads over the holiday period.  Deborah Howell was a former Washington Post ombudsman and one of the first women to lead a major U.S. newspaper. She will be greatly missed.

View Larger Map, general view of Cravens Road
Ms Howell was traveling in New Zealand on vacation with her husband, C. Peter Magrath, at the time of the accident. Her stepson Nick Coleman said Howell suffered fatal injuries when struck by a vehicle. She lived in Glen Echo (source Washington Post)

In March University of Washington student, 22 year old Celia Kelly, died when a Toyota carrying her and four others collided head-on with a Honda near Taupo, New Zealand. Celia was sitting on a back seat and was killed instantly.

On November 10 a 61 year old American tourist and his female passenger were injured when their car collided with a petrol tanker whilst both vehicles were travelling south on Highway 6, between Frankton and Jack's Point at around 8:45 am . The driver had to cut free from the wreckage.

American Rita Zaross, 62, died in a head on crash between two cars in Northland and countless others have been killed and injured over the years, official figures for tourist road casualties aren't available.

New Zealand has an appalling record for deaths and injuries on its roads, which are particularly dangerous for cyclists, see Charity cyclists shocked at NZ's dangerous roads - a blog written by Wouter Van Wezemael who tried to cycle the length of NZ with his family but found it far too hazardous.
see also posts tagged
' Dangerous Roads'
'Accident Blackspots'



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