Don't drive through crash scenes - police

File photo / APN

Waikato police are asking people to stop when approaching fresh crash scenes after motorists carried on driving through an accident site while paramedics were trying to treat victims near Te Awamutu yesterday.

The crash, involving a Mitsubishi ute and a Nissan Navara, happened near the intersection of State Highway 3 and Te Rahu Road, about 3.18pm.

The 49-year-old man driving the Nissan suffered multiple leg, chest and head fractures, and the 31-year-old woman, the driver of the Mitsubishi, suffered multiple fractures and a head injury. Both were taken to Waikato Hospital.

A one-year-old girl, travelling in the woman's car, was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure but she was uninjured.

"Fortunately for the injured an ambulance was travelling on State Highway 3 at the time and responded in seconds as did a number of locals and off-duty hospital staff," Sergeant Warren Shaw said.

"Unfortunately while these people worked to stabilise the injured, both north and southbound drivers tried to continue through the crash scene in one southbound lane, putting first responders at risk."

Mr Shaw said the common sense approach for anyone encountering a serious crash scene in the early stages before emergency services had responded was to pull over to the side of the road and turn their hazard lights on.

"Crash scenes can appear somewhat chaotic in the initial stages, the last thing you want is drivers making it worse, having said that most people do try to assist which was evident at yesterday's scene."

The injured man had surgery overnight and was currently in a critical condition in the hospital's intensive care unit, while the woman was in a stable condition in a hospital ward.

Mr Shaw said the investigation into the cause of the crash was still under way and appealed for witnesses to come forward.

- NZPA