But it was the crash Hawke's Bay police had been dreading, on a portion of road targeted by patrols since the start of summer.
Sergeant Kris Shadbolt said at the scene: "We've patrolled this road like you wouldn't believe. It's unbelievable, really. It's quite annoying, and sad."
Police were early last night unaware of any witnesses apart from those in the vehicles.
A registered nurse travelling on the road was one of the first on the scene, as was a Hastings policewoman who had been heading towards Waimarama.
A major traffic snarl-up, with increasingly heavy traffic apparently mainly travelling both to and from Waimarama and Ocean Beaches, was averted when a farmer opened gates and created a detour through paddocks alongside the Tukituki River.
At least eight police vehicles were at the scene for some time, along with fire appliances from Havelock North and Hastings, and two ambulance crews attended.
The road stayed closed for about four hours, the dead man in the vehicle against the tree as police investigated. No skid marks were apparent and nothing immediately indicated why the vehicle crossed the road.
The Bay's last road fatality occurred on November 19 when a man was hit by a vehicle on State Highway 2 south of Hastings after apparently leaping from an ambulance in which he had been a patient.
That was the third on Hastings district roads in a week and took the 2014 toll in the area from Wairoa to Tararua to 20, more than three times the historic low of six the previous year.
