Bay of Plenty road deaths 2025: Uncle of toddler urges safer driving

Her uncle, Jesse Tamm, is reminding drivers taking
to the roads this summer to make wise choices because their life or someone else’s could depend on it.

“Losing Sakura has shattered our family in a way I never thought possible. She wasn’t just a name or a statistic — she was a bright, loving little soul who brought laughter, warmth and light wherever she went.”

Sakura is one of 33 people who died on Bay of Plenty roads in 2025.

Sakura Hall, 2, died on May 22, 2025, after the car she was a passenger in hit a stationary rubbish truck. Photo / Supplied

She was a passenger in a car that was allegedly driven by a man who now faces a charge of drugged driving, causing her death.

The man, who has been granted interim name suppression, has appeared in the Rotorua District Court and pleaded not guilty to the charge. He is back before the court in March.

Tamm said it hurt every time he thought of Sakura, and his family now had to learn to live with a space that could never be filled.

He said Sakura’s family did not celebrate Christmas the way families were meant to.

“Christmas is meant to be about joy and togetherness, but instead it was marked by grief and heartbreak.”

He asked drivers to think of Sakura during these holidays.

“If sharing Sakura’s story makes even one person think twice on the road, then her loss might help spare another family from feeling this same pain.”

The numbers

Official figures show there were five fewer deaths in 2025 compared with 2024.

There are four police regions that make up the Bay of Plenty police district, and in 2025, Taupō had the most deaths on the roads with 12.

There were eight deaths in the Rotorua region, eight in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and five in the Western Bay of Plenty.

In total there were 33 deaths in the Bay of Plenty compared with 37 in 2024.

Bay of Plenty road toll

Region – 2025 – 2024 – 2023 – 2022 – 2021 – 2020

Taupō – 12 – 12 – 12 – 21 – 9 – 12

Rotorua – 8 – 12 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 4

Western Bay – 5 – 7 – 9 – 15 – 15 – 17

Eastern Bay – 8 – 6 – 6 – 16 – 10 – 6

Bay of Plenty (total) – 33 – 37 – 36 – 60 – 41 – 39

A message from police

Bay of Plenty District Road Policing Manager Inspector Phil Gillbanks said the leading cause of death and serious injury on Bay of Plenty roads was vehicles crossing the centre line, or leaving the road.

“Sadly, these crashes often result in harming innocent motorists. We have seen an increase in Bay of Plenty drivers who have illicit drugs in their system, involved in fatal crashes.”

Inspector Phil Gillbanks. Photo / File

He said alcohol and illicit drug use caused poor decision-making and poor reactive response tendencies. Fatigue can also contribute, he said.

“Driving impaired and speeding are common factors in crashes. In addition to these two factors, we also see a lack of seat belts being worn in crashes involving death and serious injury.”

Gillbanks said the Bay of Plenty’s scenic country attracted an increasing number of tourists.

“New Zealand’s roads are often divided by a single painted line, and some are windy, narrow, gravel roads leading to remote scenic spots. We ask that all drivers, and especially tourists, pay attention to staying safely on the correct side of the road.”

Those who died in 2025

January 1, single-car crash, Mapara Rd, Acacia Bay, Taupō police region – Purity Anne Te Pairi and Tamatoa David Kimi jnr, both aged 19, from Taupō January 21, cars collide, Whites Rd, SH 28, Putaruru, Taupō police region – woman, 74, from TokoroaJanuary 23, car hits pedestrian, SH30/Thornton Rd, Whakatāne, Eastern Bay police region, 70-year-old woman charged with careless driving causing death – Paul Jukka Makela, 56, from KawerauJanuary 29, single-car crash, Kelly Rd/Te Tumu Rd, Paengaroa, Western Bay police region – woman, 48, from Te PukeFebruary 3, single-car crash, Pukehina Parade, Western Bay police region – Craig Honeybun, 55, from TaurangaMarch 23, car-motorcycle collision, Ohope Rd, Maraetotara, Eastern Bay police region – man, 36, from Waiotahe ValleyApril 10, car-truck collision, Tīrau, Taupō police region – Nancy Ruth Smith, 79, from HastingsApril 21, cars collide, Waipapa Rd, Mangakino, Taupō police region, 64-year-old man charged with careless driving causing death – Woonkyung Lee, 64, from KoreaApril 22, single-car crash, SH 5 Mamaku, Rotorua police region – Paul John Coleman, 52, from MelvilleApril 25, cars collide, Te Ngae Rd, Ōwhata, Rotorua police region, 17-year-old charged with dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing injury and failing to stop to ascertain injury – Shubhkarman Singh, 33, from RotoruaMay 9, car hits tree and car, Taurikura Dr, Tauranga, Western Bay police region – Robert William Norman MacGibbon, 88, (died on May 12)May 22, car hits stationary truck, Dansey Rd, Mamaku, Rotorua police region – Sakura Hall, 2, from MamakuJune 4, 2025, single vehicle crash, Maniaututu Rd, Te Puke, Western Bay police region, 40-year-old man charged with dangerous driving causing death – Amarjit Singh, 27, from Te PukeJune 7, two-vehicle crash, Desert Rd/SH 1, Taupō police region – Karen Jennifer King, 71, from CambridgeJune 8, single-vehicle crash, Station Rd, Poroporo, Whakatāne, Eastern Bay police region – Mapu Titoko, 54, from WhakatāneJune 15, motorcycle hits pedestrian, Edmund Rd, Rotorua police region, 31-year-old charged with manslaughter, driving while disqualified and failing to stop to ascertain injury – Paige Johnson, 24, from Rotorua (died on June 18)June 26, two-vehicle crash, Tauranga Eastern Link Rd, Western Bay police region – Lily Arabin, 34, from Te PukeJune 27, car hits pedestrian, Lomond Ave, Tokoroa, Taupō police region – Julian Rameka, 55, from TokoroaJuly 4, car-truck collide, SH1 Motutere, Taupō police region – Jax Tauroa Wall, 10July 10, Otara Rd, Ōpōtiki, Eastern Bay police region – name not releasedJuly 11, car hits truck and car, SH 1 Tīrau, Taupō police region – woman 86, from PutaruruJuly 19, two-car crash, SH 1 Wairakei, Taupō police region – Travis Edward Simmonds, 53, from NapierJuly 25, car-ute collide, SH 30 Atiamuri, Rotorua police region – Joni Tuhakaraina, 53, from TokoroaAugust 1, school bus-motorcycle collision, Ruatoki Valley Rd, Eastern Bay police region – man, 32, from Eastern BayOctober 5, car-ute collision, Thorton Rd, Matatā, Eastern Bay police region – Daniel Paul Henriksen, 40, WhakatāneOctober 15, two-car collision, SH 1 Piarere, Rotorua police region – Joshua Laroy Greenway, 35, and Amber Kory Stephens, 34, from the USOctober 22, two-car collision, SH 1 Kinleith, Taupō police region – Almira Pasaol, 28, from KinleithNovember 6, car-bus collision, Te Ngae Rd, Rotorua police region – Teleia Thompson, 23, from RotoruaDecember 1, car hits tree, SH 5 Tapapa, Taupō police region – Brett Biddle, 51, from RotoruaDecember 3, single-vehicle crash, White Pine Bush Rd, Taneatua, Eastern Bay police region – Ngahina Takarangi, 44, from WhakatāneDecember 19, motorcycle crash, SH 35, Ōpōtiki, Eastern Bay police region – Steven Haskell, aged 45

Police can withhold publicly releasing names of those who have died if there are court, coronial or family restrictions.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.