MEDIA RELEASE
WAIKATO POLICE DISTRICT
13 August 2007
Speed played a factor in three fatal crashes throughout the Waikato this weekend that claimed the lives of four people.
In the first incident the Waikato Serious Crash Unit attended the scene of a single vehicle crash on Law Rd, Whitikahu, about 9.50pm on Friday 10 August.
Initial indications are the 22-year-old male driver of the 2000 Subaru Legacy tried to take the sign posted 65 km/h corner too fast and lost control of his vehicle. The crash happened in a 100km/h speed zone.
The driver was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene. A 19-year-old male passenger who was wearing a seatbelt suffered moderate injuries and was taken to Waikato Hospital by ambulance.
On Saturday night crash investigators were called to the scene of a single vehicle fatal crash on SH25A, the Kopu-Hikuai Rd, where the 23-year-old male driver of a 1995 Mazda Sentia car failed to negotiate a corner and smashed into a wooden barrier on a 100km/h stretch of road about 10pm.
The car had been heading for Thames and it appears that as control of the vehicle was lost and it collided with the barrier part of that barrier has entered the car through a window, killing the driver.
Speed is also considered a factor in a crash that claimed the lives of two people on SH26 at Hikutaia, between Kaimanawa and Maratoto roads early Sunday morning.
Serious Crash Unit investigators advise initial indicators are the driver of a northbound 1997 Suzuki Cultus station wagon tried to negotiate a signposted 75km/h corner too fast.
Out of control the car has crossed the centreline and then collided with a power pole next to the southbound lane before flying over a hedge, ending up in a paddock.
An 18-year-old man travelling as a right, rear seat passenger in the car who was not wearing a seat belt died after being thrown from the vehicle.
A second 18-year-old man, also travelling as a rear seat passenger, who was wearing a seat belt, was also killed.
The Waikato Serious Crash Unit is continuing its investigations into all three of the fatal crashes.
END