Dad who lost daughters in fiery Port Hills crash hands petition to council

Jason Alexander, pictured with his partner Lisa Campbell, lost his two daughters in a crash....
Jason Alexander, pictured with his partner Lisa Campbell, lost his two daughters in a crash. Photo: Sylvie Whinray via NZ Herald
The Canterbury dad who lost both his daughters in a horrific crash on Summit Rd just before Christmas handed over a petition to the Christchurch City Council on Thursday in a bid to make the road safer.

On November 27, Jason Alexander's eldest daughter, Tayla, died instantly in the fiery car crash. Her sister, Sunmara suffered extensive burns and died a month later on her 16th birthday at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital.

Mr Alexander is now on a mission to make Summit Rd safer.

"I don't want my girls to be forgotten and to have died for nothing," he said. 

"I don't want any more lives to be lost. I don't want any other parents to have to go through what I am going through," he said.

The Ashburton teenagers were in a car driven by a 19-year-old man when it crashed in the Port Hills about 11pm.

Sisters Tayla (left) and Sunmara Alexander. Photo: Supplied via NZ Herald
Sisters Tayla (left) and Sunmara Alexander. Photo: Supplied via NZ Herald
Last month, family friend Kelli Foster created the petition on behalf of Mr Alexander.

It has received more than 6000 signatures and is directed at the city council, the NZ Transport Agency and Parliament.

Mr Alexander wants the road to be controlled at night during the weekends by a closed barrier system to stop boy racers.

"The road leads to a lookout point, it's full of burn marks all the way up," " he said. 

"It's a race track for boy racers, there are no barriers. You get to the top of the cliff and there's a drop-it is so dangerous."

The petition was presented at the city council meeting today.