Key Points:

A 57-year-old man died when the car he was driving crashed at Welcome Bay in Tauranga early this afternoon, police said.

Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said the car left the road on a moderate right-hand turn, climbed an embankment and ended three metres above the road.

Members of the public on the scene soon after the crash found the man, the car's sole occupant, dead.

The police serious crash unit attended the crash, and the possibility of a medical event before the accident was being investigated.

- NZPA