Horrible weather conditions and poor driving behaviour has created what can only be described as a ‘perfect storm' on Western Bay roads.

From 5pm Thursday up until 8.30am today, there have been seven crashes in the district – four in Tauranga and one each in Te Puke, Aongatete and the Lower Kaimai.

Traffic backed up on Takitimu Drive following a two-car nose-to-tail crash just before Elizabeth Street on Thursday night. Photo: Daniel Hines

It has left Western Bay of Plenty road policing manager Senior Sergeant Ian Campion scratching his head as to what more police can do to get the safe driving message through to local motorists.

'It's significantly more crashes than we would normally experience. The weather conditions have been pretty poor over the past 24 hours, but that should result in drivers taking more care, not less care,” says Ian.

'Looking at all of those crashes, they were all preventable and involved people either being distracted or not taking the necessary care and adjusting their driving to the conditions.”

The first of the seven crashes involved a vehicle failing to give way at the intersection of No. 1 Road and Jellicoe Street in Te Puke at about 5.18pm on Thursday.

Ten minutes later, a motorcyclist was struck by a car in the bus lane on Hewletts Road near the Gull Station at 5.27pm. Ian says the driver of the car had failed to give way to the motorcycle.

Then down the road there was nose-to-tail crash involving two cars in the southbound lanes on Takitimu Drive just before Elizabeth Street at 5.38pm.

On the other side of the city there was another nose-to-tail crash involving three vehicles at the Taipari Street off ramp on State Highway 29A at 5.42pm – the same location of two crashes which occurred earlier this week.

After a couple of quiet hours, officers were back on the scene of another crash which saw a car smash into a tree after it lost control in the southbound lanes of Takitimu Driver between Elizabeth Street and Waihi Road this morning at 12.16am.

This was then followed by a three vehicle nose-to-tail crash, which also involved an ambulance, at the intersection of SH2 and Wright Road in Aongatete at 7.03am.

Finally, and the most recent crash, occurred at the intersection of SH29 and Porpori Road in the Lower Kaimai involving two vehicles at about 8.30am.

One of the drivers involved in the Lower Kaimai crash has since been transported to Tauranga Hospital, but Ian was unable to confirm the severity of their injuries.

'It was only through sheer luck that that there were no serious injuries in the majority of these crashes which have occurred.

'I am urging people to take extreme caution out there, particularly during inclement weather, make sure they cut their speeds back, respect following distances and be particularly careful negotiating intersections,” says Ian.

Police are not alone in their hopes for the number of crashes occurring in the Western Bay to significantly reduce.

One reader posted the below comment to SunLive's Facebook page.