‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,' penned Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities.

Thursday: a postcard-perfect Western Bay spring day, with blue skies soaked in sunshine and not a rain cloud in sight. It should've been the best day for driving – but it wasn't, not by a long shot.

Thursday was one of the worst days many Western Bay road policing staff have ever encountered in their careers, which includes the district's top traffic cop Senior Sergeant Ian Campion.

Police resources were stretched to the absolute limit on Thursday. Staff were called out to at least nine crashes throughout the Western Bay. Some were minor, some were serious, and one was deadly.

'A fatal and a serious injury crash, in addition to a raft of other crashes on the same day. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. Weather-wise, Thursday was the best day we've had this spring thus far, yet it was one of the worst days on our roads,” says Ian.

'I've not really experienced a day like Thursday before.”

Police staff were in action right from the get go on Thursday, responding to a two vehicle collision involving a bus and a car near the shops on Welcome Bay Road at about 7.15am. Ian says the car had driven into the rear of the stationary bus, leaving one lane blocked. There were no injuries.

Staff were then dispatched to Pongakawa for a horrific two vehicle collision involving two trucks on State Highway 2 shortly before 10.30am. One person was killed as a result of the crash, two others seriously injured and the highway closed down for most of the day.

As they were dealing with the fatal Pongkawa crash, staff were also called to a car vs truck on Maunganui Road shortly before 11am. Ian says the truck had been changing lanes at the time of the collision, but thankfully no-one was injured.

Then in the afternoon, staff were dispatched to Judea for a crash involving a car which had struck the side of a Birch Ave building before slamming into a parked vehicle at about 2.45pm. Witnesses allege the driver had also hit a pedestrian and another parked car before it came to a stop.

Another section of SH2 near Te Puke had to be closed after a crash involving a light truck, van and a car at about 3pm. While most of the motorists involved escaped unharmed, a 69-year-old woman who had to be cut from her vehicle and was airlifted to Tauranga Hospital in a serious condition.

While police were at that accident, a third SH2 crash involved three cars colliding at the roundabout with Moffat Road in Bethlehem at about 3.35pm. Ian says a driver had failed to give way which led to the crash, and while one lane was briefly blocked there were no injuries.

Those were just the crashes that SunLive was aware of.

Many locals believe car crashes in the Western Bay are a bit like death and taxes – unavoidable. But if you're flabbergasted by the number of crashes taking place on an almost daily basis, put yourself in the police's shoes.

Sometimes when it comes to police, we only see the uniform, but completely forget, or ignore, that it's being worn by people just like you and me.

'Firstly, it's what we do. It's our job. But staff are no different to anyone else. They get a little stretched, a little stressed over these issues, and it's certainly not easy to deal with, particularly with some of the crashes we had to deal with on Thursday.”

Ian says attending crashes is just the beginning of the process police staff have to go through.

After dealing with the scene, they'll gather all the evidence they can for their investigation, then clear the scene and get it back up to standard along with their road safety partners like NZTA contractors.

'But then there's a significant amount of work which goes in to each crash investigation behind the scenes which the public doesn't see, it can be particularly difficult at times.

'Thursday was an extremely disappointing day for police, so I'm pleading with people to please focus on what you are doing when you are driving, and please take care on the roads.”