'Idiot' races 5km wrong way along motorway

A Suzuki Swift.

Motorists were forced to evade "an idiot with a death wish" driving the wrong way down an Auckland motorway trying to escape police.

A man will appear in court on three charges after he failed to stop his Suzuki Swift when police noticed it speeding and driving erratically on Birkdale Rd, on Auckland's North Shore, about 11.15pm on Saturday.

The man, in his mid-20s, who had two passengers in his car, led police on a 45-minute, high-speed chase that spanned more than 20km across Auckland and required assistance from the Eagle helicopter.

Police Northern Communication Centre shift inspector Tony Wakelin said the car entered the wrong side of State Highway 18 at the Greenhithe offramp, forcing police to abandon their pursuit on the ground.

"He drove approximately 5km the wrong way down the motorway at high speed, forcing oncoming motorway traffic to take evasive action," he said.

The car continued to travel southwest on the wrong side of the road before changing to the correct side at the Northwestern Motorway.

Waitakere Police senior sergeant Stefan McIntyre said the Eagle helicopter tracked the vehicle from the air as it left the motorway at Lincoln Rd, Henderson, coming to a stop on Daytona Rd about midnight.

He said three people were taken into custody. One man was charged with failing to stop, reckless driving and driving with excess breath alcohol. He was bailed to appear in Waitakere District Court this week, said Mr McIntyre.

The incident highlighted the difficult decisions faced by police, as they had to abandon the chase to prevent further danger to other road users.

"However, without police pursuing him he still continued to drive at speed into oncoming traffic, driving like an idiot with a death wish, and continued to put the public in danger," Mr Wakelin said.

Meanwhile, two people died in fatal crashes at the weekend. An elderly woman was struck by a car just metres from her house as she was walking home from playing housie on Saturday night. The car was driving out of a Z petrol station on Ash St, in Avondale, West Auckland.

A man in his 40s died after the car he was driving crashed through a bridge barrier in New Plymouth yesterday, plummeting into a carpark below.

And police were last night at the scene of a three-car smash in Ohinewai, Waikato, where one person was reported to be in a serious condition.