Vanished driver's identity no longer a mystery

The police dive squad searches for the driver of the vehicle which crashed through the bridge's railings. Photo / Christine Cornege

Investigators have identified a woman who vanished after the vehicle she was driving plunged 18 metres off a Hamilton bridge.

Police said it appeared the four-wheel drive was crossing the bridge on Wairere Drive on Wednesday night when the driver lost control crashed through bridge railings into the river.

A Toyota Hilux Surf was yesterday dragged from the river 40m downstream from the Pukete Bridge. A body has not been found.

Sergeant Craig Singer this morning said investigators had identified a woman who they believe was driving the vehicle at the time of the crash.

"When you consider initial witness reports of a person seen in the water after the crash we are focusing our efforts on searches of the river banks and of the river itself."

Mr Singer said police were working with the woman's family to find out what she had been doing before the crash.

A liaison officer had been appointed to provide support to the family, he said.

Waikato road policing manager Inspector Leo Tooman said police had assessed three factors to determine the cause of an crash.

"We look at the environment to see whether that contributed in any way. We look at the vehicle to see if there's any vehicle fault that contributed and then we try and reconstruct the crash and the driver's actions."
Other motorists reportedly said potholes in the roadworks had caused problems that night.

But Mr Tooman said the Downer project manager had travelled through the area at 5.45pm and there were no potholes in the road, the speed limit on which was temporarily reduced from 80km/h to 50km/h.