14-year-old driver among weekend road deaths

Four people died on New Zealand roads this weekend.

On Saturday night a 14-year-old girl died when the three-wheeled motorcycle she was riding on the beach at Ohope, near Whakatane, hit a tree which had washed up on the shore. The girl has not yet been named.

Wellington-based road policing Inspector Ian James told NZPA today beaches were defined as roads and normal road rules applied.

"Anybody who rides a vehicle on a road is required to be licensed and a beach is a road."

At 14, the girl could not have driven legally on the beach, he said.

One person died in a taxi-truck-car collision on Auckland's southern motorway about 10pm yesterday. The victim was in the taxi involved in the crash at the southbound Ellerslie offramp.

No further details were available.

Earlier yesterday, a two-car head-on collision at Kihikihi, southeast of Te Awamutu, killed Daniel James Cavey, 16, of Pirongia, northwest of Te Awamutu.

On Saturday afternoon a motorcyclist was killed in a crash at Manurewa in South Auckland. He was George Harry Wehi, 36, of Papakura.

- NZPA