Day of multiple crashes ends fatality-free run

A man and a woman suffered serious to critical injuries in this crash near Te Kuiti, one of 11 in Waikato on Tuesday. Photo / Supplied

Less than a day after police were praising motorists for a fatality-free holiday weekend nationally, the Waikato road toll resumed its steady climb.

Waikato district's road policing manager, Inspector Leo Tooman, said highway patrol officers attended 11 road crashes in the region on Tuesday - one fatal, another putting two people in hospital with serious injuries.

A man died in the worst crash - a collision between a utility vehicle and a truck on State Highway 1 north of Cambridge about 11pm. His name had not been made public last night.

Mr Tooman said police were looking at the part fatigue might have played in the crash, which happened near the intersection of SH1 and Racecourse Rd when the northbound Mitsubishi Triton crossed the centre line into the path of a southbound truck-and-trailer unit.

He said it appeared the driver of the utility might have been coming to the end of a long work day given the clothes he was wearing and materials found in the car.

"If that proves to be the case, fatigue may have played a major factor in what was a crash that occurred on a perfectly straight piece of road," said Mr Tooman.

"That's concerning for us, given the number one killer on Waikato roads so far this year has been a loss of concentration by drivers resulting in crossing over of the centre line."

Earlier in the day, a man driving a ute towing a trailer and carrying a motorbike collided with a woman driving a Hyundai car on an isolated part of State Highway 4, 50km south of Te Kuiti.

Firefighters had to cut both drivers from their vehicles.

The pair were admitted to Waikato Hospital with serious to critical injuries.

Two dogs riding on the back of the ute were also injured, and were treated by a veterinarian.

Mr Tooman said SH4 was closed for several hours and reopened around 3pm.

Police also attended several other incidents, including a 35-tonne truck tipping over near Taupiri, a car which hit a pedestrian in Hamilton, causing minor injuries, and a man fleeing the scene after crashing his vehicle into another car.

Tuesday night's fatal crash brings this year's road toll in the Waikato police district to 27, compared to 24 over the same period last year.

The Waikato toll is more than double the next highest number of fatalities - 13 in the central North Island police district.

24 HOURS IN WAIKATO
6am Tuesday to 6am yesterday:

1 9.50am SH4/Takiri Rd. Ute-trailer vs car - one man, one woman and two dogs seriously injured.
2 12.36pm Willoughby St, Hamilton. Car vs car - no injuries but one man flees scene.
3 1.15pm Kainui Rd, Taupiri. truck overturns - no injuries.
4 2.14pm Killarney Rd, Hamilton. Car vs car - no injuries.
5 4.49pm Tramway Rd, Hamilton. Car vs car - no injuries.
6 5.41pm Urlich Ave, Hamilton. Car vs car - no injuries.
7 6.08pm Tramway Rd, Hamilton. Car vs car - one woman suffers minor injury.
8 6.55pm Peachgrove Rd, Hamilton. Car vs pedestrian - minor injury to pedestrian.
9 7.08pm Waikato Expressway. Car vs fence - no injuries.
10 9.25pm Kawhia. Car vs car - one man with moderate injuries.
11 11.05pm SH1 Cambridge. Ute vs truck and trailer unit - One man dead, another with minor injury.