The brother of a Rich List property magnate was last night lying in Auckland City Hospital after a horror crash on Maramarua's "unforgiving highway".
Mathew Peters, a relative of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and brother of multi-millionaire property developer Jamie Peters, was one of three people hospitalised after thefive-car smash on State Highway 2 near Maramarua just after 5pm on Friday.
The driver of the BMW - in which Mat Peters was a passenger - ran from the accident. Police found the driver after a helicopter search with infra-red camera. They confirmed a positive breath sample had been taken from the driver, whose name had not been released.
Mr Peters was last night in a serious but stable condition. A female passenger of the BMW was in a serious condition at Middlemore Hospital. Both were trapped in the BMW when the driver ran from the scene.
A female occupant of another vehicle was also in a serious condition in Auckland Hospital.
"He's got a lot of broken bones but he's stable," Jamie Peters is believed to have told family friends, as he sat in vigil at the bedside of his brother.
The brothers are two of the youngest and most successful property developers in Auckland. The accident came three weeks shy of Mathew Peters' wedding to Shelley Taunt, the glamorous owner of Talento, which describes itself as "New Zealand's leading talent agency". The wedding is scheduled for June 3.
Mat Peters is behind a string of city property developments through his Coltrane Trust. He also drives a Lamborghini and a Porsche. Jamie Peters, the owner of the South Island's exclusive Grasmere Lodge, is behind a $750 million Gulf Harbour development.
The driver of the BMW has yet to be charged but police said charges were likely.
Sergeant Greg Dunn said the crash occurred when the man driving the BMW crossed the centre line and tried to pass another vehicle. The BMW hit an eastbound Jeep Cherokee, which was towing a trailer. Three other cars were also caught in the accident.
Witnesses said the BMW had been dangerously overtaking before the accident, Mr Dunn said.
Winston Peters last night spoke of his concern for Mathew Peters. Mathew and Jamie Peters are his second cousins - Mr Peters' father and their grandfather were brothers. Mr Peters said the family connection was close, with the 1950s rock'n'roll Billy Peters Band the linking factor.
"They were much like their father and grandfather - he never had a music lesson at all but he could play anything by ear. I'm very sorry to hear [Mat's] in hospital."
Ms Taunt's father Tom said his daughter had called him earlier that afternoon to say Mathew had been in an accident. "She was pretty upset. All she said was Mat's had an accident and she was going to go and see him in hospital. They're fixing him up now ... He's a lovely guy."
Mathew Peters was returning from a duck hunting trip when the accident happened. Twenty-two dead ducks were left at the roadside yesterday, and another 20 were in the BMW at a Hamilton tow yard.
Friends of the brothers last night described them as "rich, ambitious risk-takers" who lived as hard as they played. Their love for the outdoors was so great that Jamie Peters spent the week before his wedding hunting.
Witnesses last night told the Herald on Sunday of the moments of terror before the crash. Ruth Murray was driving behind the Jeep Cherokee with her husband and 5-year-old son when the BMW pulled out to overtake and accelerated towards them.
Mrs Murray said she hit the brake and "miraculously" went between the two cars, which collided and then "flew" apart.
"We were just hit by wood, wood hit our car from the trailer in front. If they weren't going so fast they would have stopped in front of us."
Uninjured, she comforted the woman from the Jeep Cherokee until emergency services arrived.
"I stayed with her for a while. I ran around and spoke to her little daughter to tell her mum is okay.
"I could see the car pull out and I knew it would be bad. The other car had no time to brake. They tried their best. I really thought we were going to be gone as well."
Adrian Batterham was driving the car the BMW was trying to overtake.
"He had been overtaking people erratically. As we came around the corner and into the straight I saw him pull out to overtake me. He didn't see the oncoming traffic. At the last second he realised what he was doing and went to veer right but the cars collided on the passenger side. The last thing I remember saying was, 'Holy shit, here we go'."
Mr Batterham, who suffered a minor neck injury, said he rushed to help the woman in the Jeep Cherokee, who was unconscious at the time.
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