Elderly man dies after car crashes into tree at North Shore Hospital

The car crashed into a tree in the grounds of North Shore Hospital. Photo / Dean Purcell

An elderly man has died after crashing his car into a tree in the grounds of North Shore Hospital.

Emergency services rushed to Shea Terrace, in the Auckland suburb of Takapuna, shortly before 1pm.

Medical staff performed CPR on the patient, but he died at the scene.

A witness at the scene said the man was driving an older make BMW, which swerved up on to the kerb and straight into a tree.

It is understood a bystander narrowly avoided being hit in the incident.

A police spokesperson said the death may have been the result of a medical event, rather than being caused by the crash.

Earlier today, police pleaded with drivers to take more responsibility after a lethal weekend on the country's roads.

Nine people died between Friday and the early hours of Monday morning, bringing the road toll to 292 for 2017, up 41 on the same time last year.

At least 10 others have been injured or seriously injured.

Assistant Commissioner Road Policing Sandra Venables says this weekend's fatalities will have left families devastated up and down the country.

"Every death is reported as a number, but each number has a face, a name and a family.
They leave behind loved ones whose lives have been changed forever.

"We cannot continue to tolerate the loss."

She said it was too early to give exact details of the causes of the weekend's crashes but speed, fatigue, losing control and crossing the centre-line were all factors.

"We have another long weekend coming up when traditionally more people will be out on the roads. Everybody needs to focus on getting to their destination and home again safely."