A young driver and speeds of more than a 150km/h played a role in the tragic and avoidable death of a Northland teenager, a coroner ruled.
Emily Rose Dahl, 17, of Hikurangi, died on November 2, 2018, when the vehicle she was a backseat passenger in became airborne as it crested a hill on Kokopu Rd at a speed more than 150km/ around 500m from the turnoff to Mangakahia Rd in Poroti, Whangārei.
The BMW, carrying three other passengers who were all wearing seatbelts, swerved off the left-hand side of the rural road where it crashed through roads signs and vegetation before hitting a culvert.
The car then tumbled and rolled before coming to rest in a nearby paddock.
Dahl sustained a severe traumatic head injury and died at the scene. The young driver, who also suffered a traumatic brain injury, was flown to Auckland City Hospital.