Elderly man dies after car collides with truck

Emergency services at the scene of an accident at Kaiwaka, which killed one man and seriously injured his wife. Photo / Michael Cunningham

An elderly man has died after his vehicle allegedly pulled out on to State Highway 1 as a truck passed.

Northland road policing manager Inspector Wayne Ewers said it appeared the man's vehicle exited a carpark driveway on to SH1 Kaiwaka, outside Mormors Cafe, into the path of a southbound truck about 3.30pm.

"Without having completed the full investigation, that's what appears to have happened," Mr Ewers said.

The man died at the scene, while his wife was airlifted to Whangarei Hospital in a serious condition. The truck driver was uninjured.

The crash was in a 50km/h zone and Mr Ewers said at the scene yesterday he had no reason to believe the truck driver was at fault.

The name of the deceased Kaiwaka man could not be released until his next of kin were notified.

Detours were in place yesterday afternoon while the police's Serious Crash and Commercial Vehicle Investigation units examined the scene.

Both north and southbound drivers were directed around Kaiwaka via Mangawhai - adding at least 20 minutes to the journey. While attending the fatal accident, emergency services were called to the scene of a second accident in Kaiwaka, where a truck driver had driven into a ditch at the western end of Settlement Rd. He was unhurt.

Meanwhile, a concrete truck drove into a ditch just around the corner from the fatal crash. Photo / Michael Cunningham

While Settlement Rd was not the official detour, the unsealed road was busy with traffic after the closure on SH1.

SH1 was reopened at 7pm, with the New Zealand Transport Agency advising drivers to expect further delays as traffic eased in the area.

Northland's road toll for 2016 stands at 19 deaths compared to 11 fatalities at the same time last year and 22 for the whole of 2015.