When Tauranga local Sarah Clark first heard reports of a fatal crash between Baypark and Welcome Bay she thought it could have easily have been her children and her.

Sarah says she feels physically sick thinking about the trauma two Tauranga families are going through.

Traffic backed up during Friday's serious crash on SH29A.

Two people died and another is in hospital after they were hit by a vehicle, when they pulled over to help fix a flat tyre on State Highway 29A, on Friday at 4.15pm.

Police say a blue Nissan travelling south struck three pedestrians who were attempting to change a tyre on a White SUV.

It's been reported by NZME. one of the people killed was Tauranga man Kenny McCrae, 52, when he and two friends went to help change a tyre on his best friend's partner's SUV.

Kenny died at the scene and the woman died in hospital. His best mate is in Tauranga Hospital with serious injuries.

SunLive knows the identity of the two victims but has chosen not name them until police officially release the names.

Sarah was travelling on the same stretch of road but due to the traffic caused by the crash she took another route. She heard the reports of the fatal crash and dread started to set in.

One week earlier Sarah's tyre punctured on the same stretch of road, she estimates the time was 5pm.

Sarah who was travelling with her 9-year-old daughter and an 18-year-old friend, had just crossed the Maungatapu Bridge heading towards Baypark when she got a puncture.

'There must have been something on the road and all of a sudden there was this hissing sound and I thought ‘oh my God, what the hell is that?'”

The 34-year-old only just managed to make it to the top of the hill before she had to pull over.

'There was hardly any space to get off the road. So I put my hazard lights on and I got out and had a look at the tyre and it was like completely stuffed.”

By this time darkness was setting in and it began to rain. Sarah called AA to come and help her.

Sarah says despite having her hazard lights on, vehicles including a fully laden truck continued to drive past her at speed.

This made the mother feel unsafe and so she got her two passengers out of the car and walked up onto the bank because she feared for their lives.

'There were like trucks driving past, massive two trailer trucks, they were still going at least 100km/h past us.

'I had my lights on, my hazard lights on. There was nothing else I could do. Literally no one slowed down. I was terrified while I was in the car. I was like, I can't even handle this anymore so I got out.”

One motorist stopped to offer help but Sarah turned it down saying she had called AA. But after a half an hour of waiting in the rain, when another motorist stopped she accepted his help.

Sarah says the kind stranger, who she didn't ask his name but she is 'forever grateful”, changed her tyre just as AA arrived.

The Tauranga local says throughout the whole ordeal, traffic didn't slow down and she feared someone would be killed.

It was these feelings that came flooding back to Sarah when she first heard the reports of Friday's crash.

'I felt sick. I thought that could have easily been me and my kids one week ago. I didn't know at the time but I thought I bet somebody pulled over to help them. And I bet innocently they've become involved in the accident.

'I didn't hear it was a tyre change at first but when I heard it was on that bit of the road, like people drive that particular piece of road ridiculously fast. I wasn't surprised that it happened.”

Sarah says she feels terrible for the families who have lost their loved ones but wants motorists to be more considerate and slow down, especially when a vehicle has its hazard lights on.

She says she would also like to see the road widen on SH29A so vehicles who have to pull over have more room.