Holidaying teens in big smash

Friends of the injured gather around the wreckage of the Corolla involved in yesterday's serious crash on Puketona Rd. Photo / Peter de Graaf

It was supposed to be a fun-filled holiday in the Bay of Islands - instead a young woman is critically ill in hospital after a three-car crash outside a busy campground.

The smash, on Puketona Rd about 10.20am yesterday, occurred as a vehicle was turning in to the Bay of Islands Holiday Camp near Paihia.

Police said it appeared a Toyota Corolla, which had been travelling towards Puketona, had turned right into the campground entrance into the path of a Nissan ute heading towards Paihia.

The impact spun the sedan 180 degrees and into a BMW station wagon waiting to turn out of the campground.

Holidaymakers push a damaged BMW stationwagon out of the way in the holiday park's entrance.

Both the sedan and the stationwagon were full of young holidaymakers from Auckland. The rear left door of the Corolla bore the brunt of the impact.

The passenger, a North Shore woman in her late teens, had to be cut from the wreckage by volunteers from the Paihia Fire Brigade.

She was airlifted to Whangarei Hospital in a critical condition by the Northland Electricity Rescue Helicopter.

A St John spokesman said the patient's head injury was his main concern but she had also suffered serious lacerations to her face.

Whangarei Hospital staff were late yesterday considering whether to keep her there in intensive care or transfer her to Auckland.

The chopper, which landed in a nearby paddock, also transported a second passenger from the same vehicle. She was in a serious condition with a suspected broken pelvis.

One other person in the Corolla suffered moderate injuries and was taken to Whangarei Hospital by ambulance while a fourth passenger and the driver, and the occupants of the stationwagon, appeared unhurt.

The driver of the ute was later checked for whiplash by his GP.

The collision blocked Puketona Rd, the main route between Paihia, Kerikeri and the north.

Police closed the road at Puketona Junction and the roundabout on Paihia's Marsden Rd until 12.30pm. Holiday traffic heading for Paihia was diverted via Kawakawa.

Holidaymakers staying at the campground wait behind a chain while emergency services tend to the injured.

Senior Sergeant Ian Row, of the Northland road policing unit, said alcohol was not suspected but speed and inexperience were possible factors, as was failing to check properly before turning.

He urged motorists to slow down and take care, especially now that Northland's roads were busy with holiday traffic.

In particular he urged caution when turning: "Look twice and turn once - like builders measure twice, then cut once."

The police investigation is continuing.