The man who died in a crash on the Hawke's Bay Expressway in Hastings yesterday has been named as Perumal Dinakaran, 23, a foreign national who lived in Napier.
He died after the black Suzuki car he was driving crossed the centre line and ploughed into an oncoming McCarthy Transport logging truck about 8am yesterday.
Police said Dinakaran, who was heading south towards Hastings, was killed instantly. His car flipped onto its roof and came to rest on the left-hand side on the grass verge of the expressway.
Sergeant Paul Ormerod said the truck driver took evasive action, but he was powerless to avoid the collision.
The truck driver escaped injury, but was "quite traumatised" by the crash.