Road accidents claim two lives

The Labour Weekend holiday road toll stood at two last night.

A motorcyclist was killed on State Highway 35 at Te Kaha, 70km northeast of Opotiki, yesterday afternoon in a collision with a car.

No further details were available.

A 17-year-old Oamaru schoolgirl was the first person killed on the roads this Labour Weekend.

Abby Maree Cox was a passenger in a car in which the 17-year-old woman driver lost control and slammed into a tree on Friday night.

Police said Abby Cox and her friends had gone to Otematata - 95km northwest of Oamaru - for the weekend. They had decided to go for a drive about 11pm when the accident happened.

Abby Cox died at the scene. Three of the other four occupants were taken to Oamaru Hospital.

The dead girl was a Year 12 (Form 6) pupil at Waitaki Girls High School.

Principal Linda Cowan said she was a "neat kid" who would be missed by "an awful lot of people". She would be remembered at a school assembly tomorrow.

The Labour Weekend road toll last year was 3, the lowest recorded for some years.

- NZPA

Herald Feature: Road safety