Drink-and-drive culture linked to fatal crash

A notorious rural road has claimed the lives of two young brothers in a crash police say is indicative of the lethal drink-driving culture in their region.

Four young men were driving from Ruatoki to Taneatua, south of Whakatane, late on Thursday when they failed to take a sweeping bend on Reid Rd and crashed into a row of poplars.

Two, believed to be 19 and 21, died instantly. The driver, 18, and another youth, 19, were taken to Whakatane Hospital with moderate to serious injuries.

Police said alcohol and speed contributed and the drinking and driving culture in the area needed serious scrutiny.

"While this crash was a tragedy, it was avoidable. Attitudes to drinking and driving in the eastern Bay of Plenty need to change," said Sergeant Ray Wylie of Whakatane.

Reid Rd residents said they were startled by cries for help just before midnight. Gary Maxwell said he was confronted with a gruesome sight - one side of the Toyota sedan wrapped around a tree and one of the dead men lying on the road.

"Both boys on the passenger side had died. I went over to the backseat window to check the other guy but it was clear he was gone."

Mr Maxwell, a former lifeguard and search and rescue official, used to live opposite the bend and said he had attended at least six crashes there.

"It's a sweeping bend, and people tend to overshoot it. There are heavy poplars by the road, and when a car hits them the trees always win."

Another resident said friends of the boys arrived soon after the crash, and did all they could to look after the survivors.

"I don't know what caused the crash. But the boys did a wonderful job keeping the injured warm, still and dry, all looking after each other. I can't fault that."

Members of the dead boys' families arrived from Taneatua and mourned by the side of the road.