Deadly weekend on New Zealand's roads

Three people were killed this weekend in crashes. Photo / File

Three people lost their lives on New Zealand's roads this weekend.In the latest fatality, a motorcyclist was killed when their bike left the road and went down a bank south of Auckland.

Emergency services were called to the crash scene on North Rd, about 5km north of Clevedon, Sunday afternoon.

There, they found a motorcycle and its rider down a bank.

Few details were immediately available and police said it was not known if any other vehicle was involved, or when the crash happened.

North Rd was closed between West Rd and Duders Rd as the police serious crash unit examined the scene.

The weekend started in tragic fashion late on Friday afternoon, when 78-year-old Paul Potama, of Tangimoana, was killed in a single-car crash near the town, west of Palmerston North.

Police are still investigating and the death has been referred to the coroner, but it appears the car Mr Potama was driving crashed into a power pole near the intersection of Tangimoana and Rosina roads.

A few hours later, in the early hours of Saturday morning, a motorcyclist died on Baverstock Rd in Hamilton.

Police said they believed the 30-year-old man had fled officers earlier in the night.

Waikato District road policing manager Inspector Freda Grace said any road death was a tragedy and police extended their sympathy to the man's family.

His name has not yet been released.The weekend was also marred by a number of serious crashes in which people were badly injured.

In South Auckland, the drivers of a car and truck were seriously injured when their vehicles collided on State Highway 25 about 6.25am.

The truck and trailer rolled on to its side, leaving hundreds of bottles of beer broken and strewn across the highway.

The injured drivers were flown to Waikato Hospital by helicopter. A passenger in the car received moderate injuries.

The fully-laden truck blocked SH25 between Miranda Back Rd and Miranda Front Rd.

Diversions were put in place around the crash and authorities said a major clean-up was underway.

The police serious crash unit is investigating.

Yesterday, firefighters cut an injured driver from her car after a high-speed collision sent another vehicle careening up to 60m into a roadside paddock near Carterton in Wairarapa.

Carterton Deputy Fire Chief Brian Styles said the two cars collided at the intersection of East Taratahi Rd and SH2 just before noon, with an unrelated collision involving another two vehicles occurring on SH2 near Neiches Lane about 4.25pm the same day.

Mr Styles said two fire crews from Carterton and a crew from Masterton had been scrambled to each of the crashes, which left several travellers with injuries ranging from minor to serious.

Earlier in the day, SH2 through Waikino Gorge was shut for a few hours in the morning after a 16-year-old woman crashed the car she was driving.

She was trapped for a while and was taken to Waikato Hospital by helicopter with serious injuries.