Family killed in junction smash

Four Wellingtonians killed late on Friday in a midnight, two-car smash at a "deadly intersection" were on their way home from a dinner party when they were struck while crossing a rain-soaked highway.

The driver of the second car was in a serious condition in Hutt Hospital last night after the crash at the intersection of SH2 and Wairere and Pomare Rds, near Melling.

Police would not release names of those involved yesterday, because they were still notifying next-of-kin overseas, but they said the victims ranged in age from 46 to 79.

The family was travelling in a Subaru Legacy registered to barrister Peter Dengate Thrush, a former president of Internet NZ who is New Zealand's director on ICANN, the international agency that regulates the internet's naming system. It is understood he was not in the car.

Detective Sergeant Grant Ferguson, of Lower Hutt CIB, said the four were a father and son, the son's sister-in-law and a female family friend. They were turning south on to SH2 when they were hit by a silver Subaru Impreza driven by a 31-year-old man travelling north to Upper Hutt. Three occupants of the Legacy were killed in the crash. The sole survivor was rushed to Wellington Hospital with head and chest injuries but later died.

The owner of the Impreza was taken to Hutt Hospital with head and chest injuries. His condition yesterday was described as serious but stable.

Mr Ferguson said: "It's a nasty intersection at the best of times. Coupled with the horrible weather, the time of night and the fact that speed and alcohol may be factors, it's just a dreadful tragedy."

The accident caps off a miserable few weeks for motorists in Lower Hutt. The four deaths bring the road toll for June in the city to six, and to seven for the year. The Lower Hutt road toll for last year was four.

Before this crash, the national road toll for 2006 stood at 179 - well below the 229 fatalities recorded by this time last year.

Residents of Pomare Rd described the junction with SH2 as "a deadly intersection". The owner of one nearby property was among the first on the scene. She had called emergency services to respond to crashes "half a dozen" times in the past five years.

On Friday, the woman, who would not be named, rang for an ambulance, took blankets down for the victims, and helped to slow passing traffic.

She said the crash was unlike others she'd experienced at the intersection. "Normally you'd hear a screech of brakes and a crunch of metal - but we just heard a bang."

The intersection, at which visibility is poor, is controlled by stop signs. The curve of the state highway means drivers turning out from Wairere or Pomare Rds can see back about only 150m into oncoming traffic travelling at 100km/h.

Locals have appealed unsuccess-fully to Transit to drop the speed limit to 80km/h.

Lower Hutt Mayor David Ogden said Transit should either lower the speed limit around Melling and through the fatal intersection, or make that intersection left-turn only so cars pulling out were not crossing lanes of fast traffic.

Transit regional manager Graham Taylor said cutting the speed limit would not work: "It's difficult to put a reduced speed limit on what is essentially a motorway ... If you start putting in limits that are artificially low, most motorists are going to ignore them."