'How do you tell a 2-year-old mum's gone forever?'

Photo / Richard Robinson

The family of a pregnant mother killed in a car crash near Levin are battling with how to tell her 2-year-old daughter that her mother is dead.

Ann-Maree Hardiman, 42, and her unborn child were killed when her car and another collided while she was returning from a Gin Wigmore concert in Palmerston North with a friend about midnight on Saturday.

Police spokeswoman Kim Perks said the second car was travelling in the opposite direction from Ms Hardiman and police believed it had crossed the centre line shortly before the crash.

The 18-year-old man who was driving was yesterday in a critical condition in Palmerston North Hospital.

Ms Hardiman was seven months pregnant and due to give birth to her second child in January. She is survived by her 2-year-old daughter and partner Len Blackaby.

Cousin Monique Hardiman said the family were deeply shocked.

"It is a double loss, the fact that the baby is gone as well, we're in a state of shock," she said.

"Her little girl is left behind and Len needs support. How do you tell a 2-year-old that her mummy is not coming back?"

She described Ms Hardiman as a fun-loving and caring woman.

"I can't believe it, I don't want to believe it," she said.

"She was really looking forward to the new baby."

She said her cousin had travelled through Canada, the United States and parts of the Mediterranean before coming back to New Zealand and starting a family with Mr Blackaby.

Ms Hardiman's brother Chris said Mr Blackaby was "totally stunned".

"His emotions are all over the place," Mr Hardiman said. "She was in the prime of her life. Becoming a mother lit her up."

A nephew, Jonathan Hardiman, described his aunt as an "easygoing" woman and a dedicated mum.

"She was a full-time mum and was preparing to do it again. She was just settling down with her family."

Another cousin, who asked not to be named, called Ms Hardiman "a bit of a free spirit".

"She loved travelling around the world and we never thought she would settle down and it blew everyone away when she did."

Ms Hardiman was one of 12 people killed in a horrific weekend on the roads.

Motorcyclist Eugene Wayne Totana, 41, and pedestrian Taupua Bernadette Rawiri, 51, died after a collision at Patutahi, 16km northwest of Gisborne, late on Sunday.

Earlier on Sunday, Awhina Thomson, 20, and her stepfather, Cecil James Paul, 47, both of Himatangi, 24km southwest of Palmerston North, were killed when their vehicle crashed on State Highway 1 at Turangi.

In Hamilton, motorcyclist Peter Townsend, 37, died in a crash in River Rd on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, Kelvin Wayne Donoghue, 45, died as a result of a single vehicle crash in Te Miro Rd, east of Hamilton.

In the South Island on Saturday, South Korean English student Geon Park, 23, was killed when the vehicle she was in rolled off Forks-Okarito Rd between Franz Josef Highway and Okarito, on the West Coast.

Irishman Leslie Armitage, 23, died when the Land-Rover he was driving crashed in Central Otago's Ida Valley. Police said it appeared he was not wearing a seatbelt.