Emergency services who attended the scene of a triple fatal crash south of Waihi overnight have come away with one word as they work to establish what happened and that word is why?
Officer in charge of Waihi Police Station, Sergeant Dave Litton, said officers wanted to know why the 17-year-old male driver was out on the road carrying passengers in breach of his restricted licence, why alcohol appears to have been a factor in the crash and why the vehicle was travelling at speed and on the wrong side of the road?
"The crash happened on SH2, just south of Waihi near the turn off to Waihi Beach about 11.45pm.
"Serious Crash Unit investigators have carried out a preliminary examination and initial indications are the crash happened after the driver of a northbound Subaru lost control of his car and crossed the centreline into the path of a southbound Nissan."
Mr Litton said as the Subaru was spinning out of control the Nissan has struck it broadside, splitting the Subaru in two and ejecting the 17-year-old male driver and 16-year-old male front seat passenger who were not believed to be wearing seatbelts.
"The scene quite literally resembled a war zone, the back half of the Subaru came to rest in the southbound lane with two rear seat passengers, 17 and 16-year-old males, critically injured while the driver of the Nissan, a 44-year-old father of three, was also killed and his body trapped in his vehicle.
"Investigators have had to use occupant kinetics to establish which of the ejected males was the driver. It appears speed, alcohol, not wearing seatbelts, driver inexperience and an inability to drive to the conditions were all contributing factors in the crash."
Mr Litton said a third vehicle travelling close behind was unable to avoid the crash but the driver of this car was unhurt though very shaken.
"The two critically injured teenagers were taken to Waikato Hospital by ambulance as weather conditions at the time of the crash prevented the use of a helicopter.
"This crash was no accident, it was an avoidable tragedy that is going to affect the whole of the Waihi Beach with all those involved coming from there and all active in the local community."
Mr Litton last night's crash was yet another example of a tragedy involving teenagers that could have been avoided and follows on from two double fatal collisions and one triple fatal crash last year that involved drivers breaching the conditions of their graduated drivers licences."
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