Motorist dead after car and car-transporter collided on Kaimai Range

A car-transporter heading up the Kaimai Range came to rest about 5m down a bank on a farmer's property near the intersection of Old Kaimai Rd. Photo/George Novak

A man has died in a two-vehicle crash on State Highway 29 on the Kaimai Range after his car collided with a car transporter and both vehicles ended up down a bank.

Police were called to the crash site at the intersection with Old Kaimai Rd about 2.20pm yesterday and the highway was closed in both directions until about 6pm.

Head of Western Bay of Plenty road policing Senior Sergeant Mark Pakes told the Bay of Plenty Times that a car transporter was heading up the Kaimai Range and the car was driving down when the collision happened.

Pakes said both vehicles ended up on the opposite sides of the road each down a bank, with the deceased's car ending up upside down about 2m from the roadside.

Emergency services at the scene of a fatal crash on SH29 near the intersection with Old Kaimai Rd. Photo/George Novak.

The sole occupant of the car died at the scene, and the car transporter driver was left badly shaken and was helping police try to piece together what happened, he said.

Pakes said police were trying to formally identify the deceased and contact his next of kin, so it was not yet known whether he lived locally or not.

The laden car transporter came to rest about 5m down a grassy bank on a farmer's property and was unlikely to be removed from its resting place last night.

The deceased's car was removed from the scene.

The deceased's car was removed from the crash scene last night. Photo/George Novak.

Pakes said the serious crash unit was continuing to investigate the fatality and he wanted to thank the public for their patience.

Traffic was brought to a standstill for more than three hours which multiple emergency services staff dealt with the crash scene, including lots of trucks heading to the Waikato.

This intersection is considered to be among the most dangerous in the Western Bay of Plenty.

This was the second fatal crash in the Western Bay this week. On Monday, a person died after two cars and a truck collided on SH2, north of Tauranga.

The crash happened between Pahoia Rd and Apata Station Rd and both the truck and one of the cars caught fire after the crash.