{"id":213065,"date":"2026-01-02T11:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T11:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/213065\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T11:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T11:20:11","slug":"sunlive-bay-of-plenty-road-deaths-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/213065\/","title":{"rendered":"SunLive – Bay of Plenty road deaths 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christmas was cancelled for one Bay of Plenty family who couldn\u2019t face celebrating without their cherished little girl.<\/p>\n

Sakura Hall, 2, died on May 22 after the car she was in collided with a parked rubbish truck on Dansey Rd, near Ngongotah\u0101.<\/p>\n

Her uncle, Jesse Tamm, is reminding drivers taking to the roads this summer to make wise choices because their life or someone else\u2019s could depend on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cLosing Sakura has shattered our family in a way I never thought possible. She wasn\u2019t just a name or a statistic \u2014 she was a bright, loving little soul who brought laughter, warmth and light wherever she went.”<\/p>\n

Sakura is one of 33 people who died on Bay of Plenty roads in 2025.<\/p>\n

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

She was a passenger in a car that was allegedly driven by a man who now faces a charge of\u00a0drugged driving, causing her death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He said Sakura\u2019s family did not celebrate Christmas the way families were meant to.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristmas is meant to be about joy and togetherness, but instead it was marked by grief and heartbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n

He asked drivers to\u00a0think of Sakura<\/a>\u00a0during 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


\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tRegion
\n\t\t\t2025
\n\t\t\t2024
\n\t\t\t2023
\n\t\t\t2022
\n\t\t\t2021
\n\t\t\t2020
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tTaup\u014d
\n\t\t\t12
\n\t\t\t12
\n\t\t\t12
\n\t\t\t21
\n\t\t\t9
\n\t\t\t12
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tRotorua
\n\t\t\t8
\n\t\t\t12
\n\t\t\t9
\n\t\t\t8
\n\t\t\t7
\n\t\t\t4
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tWestern Bay
\n\t\t\t5
\n\t\t\t7
\n\t\t\t9
\n\t\t\t15
\n\t\t\t15
\n\t\t\t17
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tEastern Bay\u00a0
\n\t\t\t8
\n\t\t\t6
\n\t\t\t6
\n\t\t\t16
\n\t\t\t10
\n\t\t\t6
\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tBay of Plenty (total)\u00a0
\n\t\t\t33
\n\t\t\t37
\n\t\t\t36
\n\t\t\t60
\n\t\t\t41
\n\t\t\t39
\n\t\t
\n\t <\/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 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


\n\tJanuary 1, single-car crash, Mapara Rd, Acacia Bay, Taup\u014d police region –\u00a0Purity Anne Te Pairi and Tamatoa David Kimi jnr, both aged 19, from Taup\u014d
\n\tJanuary 21, cars collide, Whites Rd, SH 28, Putaruru, Taup\u014d police region –\u00a0woman, 74, from Tokoroa
\n\tJanuary 23, car hits pedestrian, SH30\/Thornton Rd, Whakat\u0101ne, Eastern Bay police region, 70-year-old woman charged with careless driving causing death –\u00a0Paul Jukka Makela, 56, from Kawerau
\n\tJanuary 29, single-car crash, Kelly Rd\/Te Tumu Rd, Paengaroa, Western Bay police region –\u00a0woman, 48, from Te Puke
\n\tFebruary 3, single-car crash, Pukehina Parade, Western Bay police region –\u00a0Craig Honeybun, 55, from Tauranga
\n\tMarch 23, car-motorcycle collision, Ohope Rd, Maraetotara, Eastern Bay police region –\u00a0man, 36, from Waiotahe Valley
\n\tApril 10, car-truck collision, T\u012brau, Taup\u014d police region –\u00a0Nancy Ruth Smith, 79, from Hastings
\n\tApril 21, cars collide, Waipapa Rd, Mangakino, Taup\u014d police region, 64-year-old man charged with careless driving causing death –\u00a0Woonkyung Lee, 64, from Korea
\n\tApril 22, single-car crash, SH 5 Mamaku, Rotorua police region –\u00a0Paul John Coleman, 52, from Melville
\n\tApril 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 –\u00a0Shubhkarman Singh, 33, from Rotorua
\n\tMay 9, car hits tree and car, Taurikura Dr, Tauranga, Western Bay police region –\u00a0Robert William Norman MacGibbon, 88, (died on May 12)
\n\tMay 22, car hits stationary truck, Dansey Rd, Mamaku, Rotorua police region –\u00a0Sakura Hall, 2, from Mamaku
\n\tJune 4, 2025, single vehicle crash, Maniaututu Rd, Te Puke, Western Bay police region, 40-year-old man charged with dangerous driving causing death –\u00a0Amarjit Singh, 27, from Te Puke
\n\tJune 7, two-vehicle crash, Desert Rd\/SH 1, Taup\u014d police region –\u00a0Karen Jennifer King, 71, from Cambridge
\n\tJune 8, single-vehicle crash, Station Rd, Poroporo, Whakat\u0101ne, Eastern Bay police region –\u00a0Mapu Titoko, 54, from Whakat\u0101ne
\n\tJune 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 –\u00a0Paige Johnson, 24, from Rotorua\u00a0(died on June 18)
\n\tJune 26, two-vehicle crash, Tauranga Eastern Link Rd, Western Bay police region –\u00a0Lily Arabin, 34, from Te Puke
\n\tJune 27, car hits pedestrian, Lomond Ave, Tokoroa, Taup\u014d police region –\u00a0Julian Rameka, 55, from Tokoroa
\n\tJuly 4, car-truck collide, SH1 Motutere, Taup\u014d police region –\u00a0Jax Tauroa Wall, 10
\n\tJuly 10, Otara Rd, \u014cp\u014dtiki, Eastern Bay police region –\u00a0name not released
\n\tJuly 11, car hits truck and car, SH 1 T\u012brau, Taup\u014d police region –\u00a0woman 86, from Putaruru
\n\tJuly 19, two-car crash, SH 1 Wairakei, Taup\u014d police region –\u00a0Travis Edward Simmonds, 53, from Napier
\n\tJuly 25, car-ute collide, SH 30 Atiamuri, Rotorua police region –\u00a0Joni Tuhakaraina, 53, from Tokoroa
\n\tAugust 1, school bus-motorcycle collision, Ruatoki Valley Rd, Eastern Bay police region –\u00a0man, 32, from Eastern Bay
\n\tOctober 5, car-ute collision, Thorton Rd, Matat\u0101, Eastern Bay police region –\u00a0Daniel Paul Henriksen, 40, Whakat\u0101ne
\n\tOctober 15, two-car collision, SH 1 Piarere, Rotorua police region –\u00a0Joshua Laroy Greenway, 35, and Amber Kory Stephens, 34, from the US
\n\tOctober 22, two-car collision, SH 1 Kinleith, Taup\u014d police region –\u00a0Almira Pasaol, 28, from Kinleith
\n\tNovember 6, car-bus collision, Te Ngae Rd, Rotorua police region –\u00a0Teleia Thompson, 23, from Rotorua
\n\tDecember 1, car hits tree, SH 5 Tapapa, Taup\u014d police region –\u00a0Brett Biddle, 51, from Rotorua
\n\tDecember 3, single-vehicle crash, White Pine Bush Rd, Taneatua, Eastern Bay police region –\u00a0Ngahina Takarangi, 44, from Whakat\u0101ne
\n\tDecember 19, motorcycle crash, SH 35, \u014cp\u014dtiki, Eastern Bay police region –\u00a0Steven 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christmas was cancelled for one Bay of Plenty family who couldn\u2019t face celebrating without their cherished little girl.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-213065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213065","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=213065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}