Road rage or a domestic dispute could be behind a two car crash at Waipu after both vehicles had been driven in a manner that raised traffic safety concerns as well as eyebrows.
The north-bound vehicles which crashed off the road after colliding near Brook Rd on State Highway 1 had earlier been noticed as far south as Kaiwaka because of the way they were being driven, Whangarei Sergeant Lance Goulsbro said.
Witnesses had alerted police about the white ute and blue sedan being driven erratically. One witness alleged it looked like road rage.
"They certainly drew attention to themselves. They had gone a good distance driving like this," Mr Goulsbro said.
The collision happened at about 8.30am.
The Serious Crash Unit had investigated the incident, which police were now treating "along the lines of a domestic inquiry," Mr Goulsbro said.
After impact the white ute, which was driven by a young woman with a male passenger, spun off the road shoulder and ended up sideways in a ditch. The sedan, being driven by a man who was the sole occupant, hurtled across the opposite lane, through a fence and rolled on its side in a paddock.
All three people involved lived in Auckland.
One of the men was taken by ambulance to Whangarei Hospital for a cut on his head.
At this stage, a charge of reckless driving has been laid against one man, who will appear in Whangarei Court in February.