KEY POINTS:
A driver killed in a crash near Hamilton last night might have been saved had he been wearing a seatbelt, police say.
The man, whom police were still working to identify, died at the scene on Orini Road, at Taupiri, 26km northwest of Hamilton, about 7.30pm yesterday.
Sergeant
Tobias Harrison said the man was the sole occupant of the vehicle.
Early investigations indicated that the driver had over-corrected after losing control on a slight bend and crossed the centre line before rolling into a culvert and smashing into a fence, ending up in a paddock.
Investigators said they believed, given the damage to the vehicle, the driver would have had a good chance of survival had he been wearing a seatbelt.
The man was one of three to die on New Zealand roads at the weekend.
Iain Craig Connell, 52, from Whangarei died after his car plunged into a deep stream in Northland, between 5.30pm and 6pm yesterday.
Acting Sergeant Joanne Rouse said the man's car had missed a corner and travelled 7m down a bank, plunging into a deep estuary stream feeding into Ngunguru Harbour 16km northeast of Whangarei.
Two canoeists saw the crash and tried to rescue the man but were unable to pull him out because the car was stuck in the mud.
Police used a crane to pull the car from the stream, she said.
"I don't know the cause of it or ... whether he was deceased because of injuries or by drowning," Ms Rouse said.
The death had been referred to the coroner, Northland police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said.
On Saturday a teenager died when the car he was driving crashed into a power pole and caught fire in Southland about 4.30am.
The car was found extensively damaged in Gorge Road at Tokanui, 40km east of Invercargill, with a person dead inside.
A Waimahaka volunteer firefighter said his crew arrived at the scene 10 to 15 minutes after the early morning crash and fond the car on its side, gutted by fire and still burning, beside an uprooted power pole with 11,000-volt lines nearby, the Southland Times reported.
Senior Sergeant Dave Raynes said the body had not yet been identified but police believed it was a Tokanui man in his late teens.
Police wanted anyone who saw a blue, 1990 Toyota saloon in the area to contact them.
- NZPA
