Texting linked with teenager's death crash

Police believe a 16-year-old girl may have been texting when the car she was driving ploughed into a trailer unit parked on the side of State Highway 30 at Awakeri, near Whakatane, yesterday evening.

The girl was killed instantly and a male passenger taken to hospital with moderate injuries.

Whakatane police said early indications were the crash was the result of inattention, and they believed the driver may have been texting on her mobile phone.