A 19-year-old has admitted causing the death of a German tourist near Thames.
Felix Eisele crashed and killed his passenger Melanie Dangel, 19, near Thames last week.
Dangel died of her injuries after a week in Waikato Hospital.
Eisele's vehicle crashed at the intersection of State Highway 25 and Hauraki Rd, Thames, on November 24.
The court heard Eisele stopped at the intersection but pulled out in front of the truck. The car was pushed several metres down the road.
Eisele had only recently got his driving licence and had limited driving experience.
He arrived in New Zealand on September 26 and hired the Nissan after one week being in the country.
He admitted careless driving causing death when he briefly appeared in the Thames District Court this morning.
Judge Merelina Burnett remanded him on bail to reappear for sentencing next month.
Eisele was supported in court by family.
When spoken to by police, Eisele said he had no memory of what happened.
Duty lawyer Rod Simm, acting on behalf of Eisele's lawyer Simon Lance, lost his bid to apply for name suppression.
He also failed in trying to get sentencing heard on December 19. Judge Burnett said it would not give authorities enough time to complete the various reports.
The pair had left Hamilton at 10am the day of the crash, heading to Hot Water Beach, when the crash happened at 10.55am.