{"id":14301,"date":"2025-07-16T07:56:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T19:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=14301"},"modified":"2025-07-16T07:56:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T19:56:24","slug":"waiuku-residents-call-for-more-speed-cameras-following-fatal-masters-road-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=14301","title":{"rendered":"Waiuku residents call for more speed cameras following fatal Masters Road crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

The three people killed in the crash on a notorious Waikato road were a woman and two children, RNZ believes.<\/p>\n

They died on Tuesday<\/a>\u00a0when the car they were in left Masters Road, near Waiuku and landed in a nearby creek.<\/p>\n

The local community is said to be devastated after the deaths on the road locally known as ‘The Rollercoaster’.<\/p>\n

Billy McLean was in his workshop on Masters Road when he heard an impact that sounded like a car going off the road.<\/p>\n

“It’s not the first time I’ve heard it. It’s\u00a0not the first time<\/a>\u00a0it’s happened here.<\/p>\n

“I knew what it was straight away and just ran straight down there to find the car upside down in the ditch, unfortunately.”<\/p>\n

McLean, a conservation arborist, said the ditch was a deep culvert located in a dip at the bottom of a hill with wetlands on either side.<\/p>\n

“I tried my best to get them out and there was absolutely no way that that car was going to open.<\/p>\n

“There’s not much anyone could have done.<\/p>\n

“Being pinned upside down in mud that was so deep. It was like, a little bit of the bottom of the door and the chassis and the wheels exposed and the rest of the whole vehicle in mud.<\/p>\n

“There’s not a hundred gorillas that could have torn the doors off that car … I tried. I tried my best but I’m not a hundred gorillas either.”<\/p>\n

McLean raced back up his driveway to call 111.<\/p>\n

He said police were first on the scene within minutes and also tried and failed to get into the SUV. After that the Waiuku Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived.<\/p>\n

\"Waiuku<\/p>\n

Emergency services at the scene of the Masters Road crash.\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0RNZ\/Marika Khabazi<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

McLean said the chassis on the SUV was bent and he believes the car hit the culvert at his driveway and became airborne.<\/p>\n

The 80 kilometre an hour road is an alternative route to get to Pukekohe and the crash happened at 3.30pm between Waiuku and Kidd roads.<\/p>\n

McLean said it had been raining but had stopped by the time he heard the impact.<\/p>\n

He said it was the second time in as many years there had been a fatal crash on the road, the first one killing his best mate of 40 years and father-of-six Daniel Dalgety in August 2023.<\/p>\n

In that crash, McLean said the car Dalgety was a passenger in hit a tree and he was again first on the scene to discover his friend’s death.<\/p>\n

Since then he had been scared for his own family’s safety when using the road.<\/p>\n

“Honestly I fear that, every time I pull out of this driveway with my family now.”<\/p>\n

He said he was considering selling his home and he wanted action from road authorities.<\/p>\n

“Do something. Do something … If they could start focusing those speed cameras on actual known death-trap sites, instead of some random corner or at the bottom of a pretty safe downhill where they’re just getting as much revenue as they can.<\/p>\n

“Could they please put those cameras where it would save people’s lives instead of just collecting their tax.<\/p>\n

“That would be a great start. This place here would be a good start.”<\/p>\n

He described the area where Tuesday’s crash happened as being akin to an “old-school BMX jump”.<\/p>\n

“It’s been known for years out here as ‘The Rollercoaster Road’.”<\/p>\n

\"Waiuku<\/p>\n

Billy McLean says the stretch of road is a known hazard.\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0RNZ\/Marika Khabazi<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Neighbour and resident on the road for four decades, Jonathan Kuttner, also referred to Masters Road as a death-trap and said he had been to a dozen crashes since the road was straightened many years ago.<\/p>\n

Kuttner, a former GP, said there was a dangerous dip and bend in the road where speeding cars could fly off and land in a bog.<\/p>\n

He said he had raised concerns with various authorities over the years and was also calling for a speed camera on the road.<\/p>\n

Kuttner said drivers often used the road to speed and he had been privy to many serious crashes and a number of close calls near his home.<\/p>\n

It was so dangerous he would only turn left out of his driveway, he said.<\/p>\n

Franklin ward councillor Andy Baker said he was aware the “well-used back road” could be dangerous but said it fell within the Waikato boundary.<\/p>\n

He said Waiuku, a rural town of about 6000 people, would be heavily impacted by the tragedy.<\/p>\n

“Everyone knows everyone. The whole town will just be reeling, no matter who it is. There’ll be so many different parts of the community affected by it. It’s a terrible thing.”<\/p>\n

It was unclear if the victims were from Waiuku but it was believed they were members of the same family.<\/p>\n

In a statement shortly after 6pm on Tuesday, police said next-of-kin had been notified.<\/p>\n

“We acknowledge that this is tragic news for the tight-knit community in Waiuku.”<\/p>\n

The Serious Crash Unit was investigating.<\/p>\n

rnz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The three people killed in the crash on a notorious Waikato road were a woman and two children, RNZ believes. They died on Tuesday\u00a0when the car they were in left Masters Road, near Waiuku and landed in a nearby creek. The local community is said to be devastated after the deaths on the road locally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":14302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-nz-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14303,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14301\/revisions\/14303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}