Teen dies in crash hours after family celebration

Cameron Crosby spent Saturday celebrating his grandmother's 88th birthday with his family _ but just a few hours later he was dead.
The 19-year-old keen mountain-biker, car enthusiast and guitarist was heading for a party in the country at 8.30pm when the van he was driving and a four-wheel-drive vehicle collided at the intersection of Manoeka Rd and State Highway 2.
Mr Crosby died later that night in Tauranga Hospital. It is the third fatal accident on that stretch of road in the last week and his death the 10th on Bay roads so far this year.
His mother, Helen Crosby, today told the Bay of Plenty Times her eldest son as "popular with a loyal following of friends".
An apprentice plumber, he had three plans for the year: to finish doing up his bright yellow Mazda, go flatting and buy a motocross bike.
"It's fate we managed to get a bright yellow casket for him," she said.
Mrs Crosby said Cameron loved anything that involved movement, including a motorised dinghy.
"He would give the kids thrill rides on the dinghy," she said.
A former Pillans Point Primary and Otumoetai College student, Mr Crosby has one younger brother, 11-year-old Callum.
A second 19-year-old Tauranga man, known as Ben, who was the front-seat passenger in the van is in a serious condition in Tauranga Hospital after sustaining head injuries.
A third man in the van and the driver of the four-wheel-drive also received minor injuries.
"We are missing Cam but our thoughts are with also with Ben and the other passenger and their families," said Mrs Crosby.
Tauranga St John Ambulance area manager Ken Hansen said both Mr Crosby and the front-seat passenger were trapped for 40 minutes while firefighters worked to extricate them. Mr Crosby was initially conscious but died in Tauranga Hospital about an hour after the crash.
Police are calling for anyone who witnessed the crash to contact Tauranga Police on 577 4300.
His death follows two other fatal crashes on the same stretch of road linking Tauranga and Te Puke last week.
The accident which killed Papamoa woman Caroline Pike, 49, occurred around 200m north of Manoeka Rd on a straight stretch of SH2.
This was followed by the death of Elisebeth Stewart _ who was involved in a crash at the intersection of Welcome Bay Rd and SH2 at lunchtime on Tuesday.
Senior Sergeant Ian Campion today said: "To say I'm disappointed is an understatement."
"At the moment the Western Bay of Plenty is the least safest place as a whole (of the 12 regions) to drive in New Zealand and the message that I've been pushing for a long time now is for people to take responsibility out there," said Mr Campion.
He said driving conditions and visibility were good at the time of the crash and speed and alcohol did not appear to be factors. Mr Campion said for the past four months police had been targeting high-risk intersections, with 130 tickets issued over the past month for intersection breaches.
Bruce Farthing, Otumoetai College acting principal, said Cameron was a cheerful, likeable student who was at his best in workshop technology subjects.
Mr Farthing broke the news of Cameron's death to staff this morning.
"It's a terrible tragedy. It is very sad. He was a really good lad."
with Vicki Waterhouse