think of Sakura<\/a> during these holidays.<\/p>\n\u201cIf sharing Sakura\u2019s story makes even one person think twice on the road, then her loss might help spare another family from feeling this same pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
The numbers<\/p>\n
Official figures show there were five fewer deaths in 2025 compared with 2024.<\/p>\n
There are four police regions that make up the Bay of Plenty police district, and in 2025, Taup\u014d had the most deaths on the roads with 12.<\/p>\n
There were eight deaths in the Rotorua region, eight in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and five in the Western Bay of Plenty.<\/p>\n
In total there were 33 deaths in the Bay of Plenty compared with 37 in 2024.<\/p>\n
Bay of Plenty road toll<\/p>\n
Region – 2025 – 2024 – 2023 – 2022 – 2021 – 2020<\/p>\n
Taup\u014d – 12 – 12 – 12 – 21 – 9 – 12<\/p>\n
Rotorua – 8 – 12 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 4<\/p>\n
Western Bay – 5 – 7 – 9 – 15 – 15 – 17 <\/p>\n
Eastern Bay – 8 – 6 – 6 – 16 – 10 – 6<\/p>\n
Bay of Plenty (total) – 33 – 37 – 36 – 60 – 41 – 39<\/p>\n
A message from police<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cSadly, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Inspector]()
Inspector Phil Gillbanks. Photo \/ File<\/p>\n
He said alcohol and illicit drug use caused poor decision-making and poor reactive response tendencies. Fatigue can also contribute, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDriving 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gillbanks said the Bay of Plenty\u2019s scenic country attracted an increasing number of tourists. <\/p>\n
\u201cNew Zealand\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those who died in 2025<\/p>\n
January 1, single-car crash, Mapara Rd, Acacia Bay, Taup\u014d police region – Purity Anne Te Pairi and Tamatoa David Kimi jnr, both aged 19, from Taup\u014d January 21, cars collide, Whites Rd, SH 28, Putaruru, Taup\u014d police region – woman, 74, from TokoroaJanuary 23, car hits pedestrian, SH30\/Thornton Rd, Whakat\u0101ne, 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, T\u012brau, Taup\u014d police region – Nancy Ruth Smith, 79, from HastingsApril 21, cars collide, Waipapa Rd, Mangakino, Taup\u014d 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, \u014cwhata, 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, Taup\u014d police region – Karen Jennifer King, 71, from CambridgeJune 8, single-vehicle crash, Station Rd, Poroporo, Whakat\u0101ne, Eastern Bay police region – Mapu Titoko, 54, from Whakat\u0101neJune 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, Taup\u014d police region – Julian Rameka, 55, from TokoroaJuly 4, car-truck collide, SH1 Motutere, Taup\u014d police region – Jax Tauroa Wall, 10July 10, Otara Rd, \u014cp\u014dtiki, Eastern Bay police region – name not releasedJuly 11, car hits truck and car, SH 1 T\u012brau, Taup\u014d police region – woman 86, from PutaruruJuly 19, two-car crash, SH 1 Wairakei, Taup\u014d 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, Matat\u0101, Eastern Bay police region – Daniel Paul Henriksen, 40, Whakat\u0101neOctober 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, Taup\u014d 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, Taup\u014d police region – Brett Biddle, 51, from RotoruaDecember 3, single-vehicle crash, White Pine Bush Rd, Taneatua, Eastern Bay police region – Ngahina Takarangi, 44, from Whakat\u0101neDecember 19, motorcycle crash, SH 35, \u014cp\u014dtiki, Eastern Bay police region – Steven Haskell, aged 45<\/p>\n
Police can withhold publicly releasing names of those who have died if there are court, coronial or family restrictions.<\/p>\n
Kelly Makiha<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Her uncle, Jesse Tamm, is reminding drivers taking to the roads this summer to make wise choices because…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[836,1561,15166,4189,111,43,139,69,1118,1562,1314,25530,13835,128729,3552],"class_list":["post-212012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-836","tag-bay","tag-deaths","tag-driving","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-plenty","tag-road","tag-safer","tag-toddler","tag-uncle","tag-urges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}