Hit-and-run victim's son speaks

File photo / NZ Herald

The son of an elderly Whanganui woman who was killed in a hit and run says his mother was "wiped out" by the crash, which threw her up in the air and over a fence.

A 24-year-old man has been arrested over the death of Margaret Trethewey, 72, who was killed instantly while out walking her dogs early Saturday morning on Montgomery Road, Whanganui.

One of her dogs, a black Labrador, was also killed by the car, which appeared to have drifted off the road, police say.

"She was wiped out. She went up in the air, over the fence and was killed instantly," Ian Trethewey told The Dominion Post.

"We all thought she would live to 100...the worst thing is my eldest son is getting married this Saturday and she was looking forward to that," he said.

Mrs Trethewey's husband, Barry Stewart, normally walked the dogs every morning but had been away on an overnight tramp, he said.

Mr Stewart did not find out about his wife's death until he returned from his tramp on Saturday evening.

The 24 year old has been charged with reckless driving causing death and failing to stop, and will appear in the Wanganui District Court today.

Mrs Trethewey was the third person to die this weekend on the roads, as police came out in force after last weekend's horror road toll of 13.

On Saturday night a man died when his motorcycle collided with a car in the south Auckland suburb of Papakura.

Another man died after his car crashed into a bank on State Highway 3 at Piopio in the Waikato on Saturday morning.

When emergency services arrived at the scene the man was suffering from a heart attack but it was not known if that caused the crash.

The road toll for the year to date now stands at 338. It stood at 343 at the same time last year and 309 in 2008.

- NZPA