Truckie and two motorists die in crashes

The crash, which happened on a wet road at 8.40am, was an example of how people needed to adjust their speed in adverse weather. Photo / Stephen Parker

A truck driver died after his vehicle rolled yesterday morning, trapping him inside - one of three people killed on the roads yesterday.

Forty-five-year-old Garry John Galvan died at the scene of the crash at Horohoro, 15km southeast of Rotorua, shortly before 8am.

"One fantastic truck driver now cruising the highways of heaven - will miss you terribly," wrote his wife Lynette in family notices published today.

Wet weather was a factor in another crash less than 30 minutes later where two cars collided.

A 29-year-old woman driver - who had not been named yesterday because police were still trying to reach next-of-kin who the Herald believes are in France - was heading towards Hamilton when she was in collision on a slight right-hand bend about 10km out of Raglan.

Police say her 1999 Ford Escort collided with an oncoming Mitsubishi, seriously injuring the two occupants, who had to be cut free.

The woman, who is believed to be an osteopath, died at the scene.

Inspector Leo Tooman, the Waikato district road policing manager, said the crash, which happened on a wet road at 8.40am, was an example of how people needed to adjust their speed in adverse weather.

It was also an example of how motorists needed to use fog lines on the edge of the road as a guide, instead of the centreline.

"What we're seeing is too many people dying or being seriously injured when cars cross the centreline," said Mr Tooman.

"It's only a thin lick of paint separating cars travelling towards each other at speeds up to 100km/h, there's not a lot of room for mistakes and with the current weather conditions there's even less so our message is to slow down and keep left."

Sergeant Rob Pierce of Raglan said the victim was a local woman who worked in both Raglan and Hamilton but was originally from overseas.

The seriously injured people from the other vehicle were taken to Waikato Hospital after being cut free.

State Highway 23 was closed for several hours while police investigated the crash yesterday morning, leaving many motorists stranded on either side of the cordon as there were no alternative routes. Mr Pierce said he was aware some people had missed international flights as a result but the road had to be closed to allow members of the Serious Crash Unit to do their job.

The third fatal crash happened in the Coromandel yesterday afternoon, killing an American tourist and injuring two other people. The crash near Whitianga about 12.26pm was a head-on collision between a southbound Toyota Astina driven by an American tourist and a northbound silver Mazda 6 station wagon.

"Both drivers were flown to Auckland Hospital with serious injuries and the American visitor died there a few hours later," said Mr Tooman.

"Another US national travelling as a passenger in the Astina was taken by ambulance to Thames Hospital for treatment."

Mr Tooman appealed for any witnesses to call the Whitianga police station, particularly the driver and passengers in an blue bus.

Four people died on the roads at the weekend, including a 22-year-old cyclist who collided with a car in the Wellington suburb of Karori late on Saturday night.

He was last night named as Benjamin Lawless.

Three people were killed and two teenagers critically injured in a crash in Waihi on Friday night.

Dylan Perkinson, 17, Vance Williams, 16 and father of three Mark August Sydney, 44, died after the collision on State Highway 2 about 11.45pm. All three were from Waihi.

Mr Sydney, a former army lieutenant, received a New Year's honour in 2007 for his work with the military police in Bosnia.