Three pedestrians killed in holiday road toll

Police attend the scene after a body was found on SH1 at Mercer, south of Auckland. Photo / Doug Sherring

Two teenagers were among the three pedestrians killed in five separate fatal crashes this long weekend.

The deadly crashes, which claimed six lives, happened in Mercer, New Plymouth, Rotorua, and two separate incidents in Whakatane.

In another crash, a man was critically injured after a head-on collision about 5.30pm yesterday in the Western Bay of Plenty. Police said firefighters had to extricate one man from his car.

Two other men were seriously injured and SH33 near Paengaroa was closed afterwards.

On Friday night, 17-year-old Raiden Howden of Whakatane died on Keepa Rd, Whakatane, after a car hit him.

In another fatal crash in Whakatane, a person was found dead on SH30 near Kope Drain Rd on Saturday night. He was also 17 but police have not yet released his details.

Police suspected speed was a factor in the crash that claimed the lives of New Plymouth man Ronald Victor McMillan and Nepalese national Alekh Acharya.

Mr Acharya, 22, hit 67-year-old Mr McMillan, a pedestrian, in New Plymouth on Saturday afternoon.

In a fourth fatal smash this holiday weekend, Elisha Areli (21) died after crashing a car into a tree in Rotorua on Sunday morning.

Shortly before 3am on Saturday, a body was found on SH1 at Mercer, south of Auckland. Police did not release any further information.

On Sunday, police assistant commissioner Dave Cliff said initial investigations suggested drink-driving, speeding, and in one case a person not wearing a seatbelt were among the factors in the fatal crashes. "Three pedestrians have been killed which is really unusual."

Mr Cliff said some drivers incorrectly thought they only had to exercise caution in known accident black spots.

"The vast majority of these fatal crashes, serious crashes, happen in locations where there hasn't been one before. So there's never a good place to be exceeding speed limits."

Complacency about drink-driving was of concern.

In another case, Mr Cliff said a crash victim was not wearing a seatbelt. "It doesn't matter whether you're travelling 100km/h or 1km/h, you can have a crash anywhere and people must wear safety belts."