A collision between two vehicles on State Highway 1 between the intersections with Titri and Bungards Rds on Monday claimed the lives of Te Kuiti’s Andrew Francis Sheehan, Kreshar Dannielle Sheehan, and Whakatane accountant John Banbury, and left three children seriously injured.
It was not the first time tragedy had struck in the area.
Nearly two years ago, driver Hayden Manoah, then 17, tried to overtake just south of Waihola and slammed into oncoming traffic, killing Charlene Hong Hue Phuong and Fay Lesley Leota.
The two mothers were part of a convoy heading to Queenstown for a family holiday.
One of the first motorists on the scene — less than 4km from the site of this week’s crash — said hearing of the most recent horror brought her experiences flooding back.
"My son sent me a clip of the third person that died, and I just started crying because it just brings up all that emotion again," the woman, who asked not to be named, said.
"I remember everything. I remember the impact, I remember how they were all placed in the car, I remember doing CPR ... the smell of petrol ... the husband trying to get his kids and wife out .
"It’s a vision that’s stuck in my head and it just doesn’t go away."
The woman was now left with enormous guilt over a situation she did not create.
"I beat myself up every day still, that I did things wrong, that I maybe could have saved them if I didn’t spend so much time trying to process what was going on," she said.
"This destroyed my life."
Since the accident, the woman had suffered from PTSD and panic attacks.
Her message to drivers was simple.
"If you have to drive behind a truck at 80kmh until there’s a passing lane, so be it, because at least you’ll be alive."
"When you take a risk, it takes one second for everything to go wrong."
Data released to the Otago Daily Times this week by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency showed that since 2018, five people had been killed in crashes on SH1 from Allanton to Waihola.
Frank van Betuw, whose holiday home on the Waihola Highway beside the Titri crash site, said he recalled three other fatalities and countless accidents outside the house.
Living there had made him hyper-aware of loud noises from the road.
"It might just be a bump for a trailer bouncing, but it gives you a scare," he said.
"Your heart sinks. You know it’s not going to be good — and it wasn’t."
Mr van Betuw said he was "deeply saddened" for everybody affected by this week’s accident.
