Crash victim was a 'big softy'

Henry Boyd was driving on State Highway 77 in Methven, near Christchurch, when his car left the road and crashed into a tree in a rest area on Friday night. Photo / Facebook

A 19-year-old who died after the car he was driving hit a tree on Good Friday is being remembered as a "big softy" with a "friendly and goofy personality".

Henry Boyd, of Geraldine in Canterbury, was driving on State Highway 77 in Methven, near Christchurch, when his car left the road and crashed into a tree in a rest area on Friday night.

He was the only person in the car and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Friends and relatives of Mr Boyd have been posting tributes to the teen online.

"Still don't want to believe it. RIP boyd!! You were taken way to soon life is so unfair!! Not a day will go by where we won't think of you, you will never be forgotten fly high you big softy (sic)," one friend posted on Facebook.

A cousin of Mr Boyd's wrote: "You were always a happy person to be around and you had such a funny personality.

"A friend but mostly [an] awesome cousin taken way too soon! I will cherish our happy memories everyday!"

Another friend who called him a brother, a teammate and a true friend described him as a "true soldier".

Another friend said his "friendly and goofy personality" would light up a room.

Mr Boyd was one of four people to die on New Zealand roads over the Easter holiday period.

The official holiday period began at 4pm on March 24 and ended at 6am on March 29.

The same day, a vehicle carrying seven people went over a bank in Central Otago. Kusum Rohit Kenia, 62, from Mumbai was killed in the accident, while the other six people were taken to hospital.

On Friday night, 21-year-old Raumati man Tristan Hunter died when he collided with a car as he was longboarding down Maungakotukutuku Rd, near Paraparaumu.

The car was being driven by one of his friends.

Yesterday, Jaymie Forsyth, 35, of Pirongia, near Te Awamutu, died in a crash in Mangaweka in the central North Island.

The cause of the Mangaweka crash was still under investigation by the Central District serious crash unit.