Three people are dead and five injured after road accidents this weekend.
Police said a 19-year-old Tauranga man, Cameron Michael Crosby, died after two cars collided near Te Puke last night.
Senior Sergeant Rob Glencross of Tauranga police said the crash happened about 8.30pm at the intersection of
Manoeka Road and State Highway 29.
Mr Crosby was the driver of a van which appeared to have pulled out from Manoeka Rd and collided with a four-wheel-drive vehicle, Mr Glencross said.
A second 19-year-old Tauranga man who was a passenger in the van is in critical condition in Tauranga Hospital.
A third person in the van and the driver of the four-wheel-drive received minor injuries.
Mr Glencross said weather conditions were good at the time of the collision and speed did not appear to be a factor.
A 25-year-old central Canterbury woman died yesterday morning after the four-wheel-drive in which she was a passenger lost control and crashed into a power pole at Leeston, 43km southwest of Christchurch.
Police shift supervisor Paul Visser said another passenger also received moderate injuries after the vehicle carrying five people lost control and left the road at around 6.30am.
No further information was available.
And a head-on collision between a car and four-wheel-drive vehicle in west Auckland just before 1am yesterday claimed another life.
Inspector Ian Brooker of the police northern communications centre said the vehicles collided on Scenic Drive in Titirangi, between Shaw and Konini Roads.
The front seat passenger of the car, a 19-year-old man, died at the scene and the driver was seriously injured. The occupants of the four-wheel-drive were not injured.
Mr Brooker said it appeared one of the vehicles crossed the centre line but the exact cause of the crash is yet to be established.
Meanwhile, a youth died and another was seriously injured when their car hit a tree during a car club off-public-road event south of Auckland yesterday.
The crash occurred about 3.30pm yesterday on a track in the Waiuku Forest.
- NZPA
