Four die in overnight crashes
Wednesday, 20 December 2017
Four people are dead after a night of road carnage.
Two people died after separate overnight crashes in the lower South Island, both thought to involve single vehicles. A third person died after a collision between a logging truck and car in Waikato, while a fourth was killed in a crash in Tauranga.
In one of the crashes, a 24-year-old woman died after her car slid across a Waikato highway centre line into the path of an oncoming truck.
The crash between the car and the unladen logging truck at 4.49am Wednesday shut down part of the highway between Tauranga and Hamilton.
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It happened on a 75kmh bend on State Highway 29 north of the Piarere intersection.
The Tauranga woman was heading north-east along the highway in her white Hyundai when she appears to have lost control coming into the bend, Sergeant Dean Kaio said.
'The road was wet at the time, after a recent downpour,' he said at the scene.
'She's come around the sweeping right-hand bend and lost control, drifting across the centre line onto the wrong side of the road.'
The car then slid sideways across the highway, slamming into the front of the southbound truck.
'The car has hit on the B-pillar and the rear too, causing the driver to hit the face of the truck side on.'
In another crash, the sole occupant of a vehicle died after crashing into a paddock about 11pm on Kempthorne Rd in the Clutha district, police said.
Later, a man died after the vehicle he was in crashed into a bridge about 1.50am on Waianakarua Road, Herbert in the Waitaki district. It appeared no other vehicle was involved, police said.
Around 10.15pm emergency services were called to a fatal crash in Tauranga. Police said a single vehicle went into a tree.
The crash happened on Pyes Pa Rd - between Williams and Taumata roads.
The driver died at the scene.
The driver's next of kin were still being notified of the accident.
Early on Wednesday police were also dealing with a truck crash on State Highway 4, north of Raetihi, southwest of Tongariro National Park.
It appeared a truck had crashed into a bank, and the driver, who was in a serious to moderate condition, was trapped.
In Hamilton a section of Heaphy Tce was closed in Fairfield after a serious collision between a motorcycle and car.
The collision occurred at 10.20pm and left one person in a serious condition.
In Wellington, a 75-year-old pedestrian had a big cut to his head after being hit by a car in the suburb of Khandallah shortly before 10pm.