The young female driver of a van that collided with a car and crashed into a bridge has been charged with manslaughter, four months after the accident that killed two teenage boys.
The 16-year-old appeared in the Hastings Youth Court on Thursday on two charges of manslaughter, which allege she failed to take reasonable care to avoid danger.
The girl's name was automatically suppressed and she was remanded on bail to reappear on April 1.
Max Harman and Robert Waikari, both 17, died after being flung from Robert's Ford Ecovan and into the Tutaekuri River, near Taradale, on Friday, October 31 last year.
The seven people in the van were travelling to Taradale for a party after drinking at Max's home that night.
Police said the van - in which several young occupants were sitting on a couch in the back - crossed the centre line on State Highway 50 at around 2am, hitting a car driven by Napier 18-year-old Simon Taunt, whose girlfriend was in the passenger seat.
The van smashed into the side of the bridge, flinging Robert and Max 15m into the river below.
Police found Robert's 17-year-old girlfriend, Jordyn Beach, walking from the river with a broken arm and a cut head. Ben Morrison, 18, was airlifted to Wellington Hospital in a critical but stable condition. The driver's boyfriend was also seriously injured.
One of the survivors, Tim Wilson, 18, previously said a sober driver had been organised to drive the group to a party and home again, but the friends ended up stuck in Taradale.
The 16-year-old offered to drive the group, saying she hadn't had much to drink.
"We went along with it," Wilson said one week after the accident. "We were happy with the decision."
Max and Robert's families declined to comment on the charges yesterday.
Robert's mother, Carol Johnstone, earlier said she wanted other people to learn from her son's death.
"No one's perfect and I'm not going to pass judgment on anyone," she said. "Make sure your bloody driver's sober."
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