Fatal crash 'totally avoidable' - police

File photo / Northern Advocate

A double-fatal crash in Waikato at the weekend was "totally avoidable", police say.

Justin Michael Aikman and Shannon Thomas Hepi, both 25 from Otorohanga, died about 7pm on Saturday when the Honda car they were travelling failed to give way at the intersection of Rolleston St and Arapuni Road in Kihikihi, 30km south of Hamilton, and collided with another car.

The men and two other passengers were thrown from the Honda, while three people travelling in the second car were also seriously injured.

Police said the Honda had been stopped for speeding earlier on Saturday, and that the driver had said he thought he was still driving on an open stretch of road when the crash happened.

Waikato district road policing manager Inspector Leo Tooman said the deaths were "totally avoidable".

Neither man was wearing a seatbelt and speed was a confirmed factor in the crash. Police were still investigating if alcohol was involved.

"The tragedy of it all is this crash stems from not getting the basics right. Here we have two young men who won't be coming home as a result of not giving way, driving too fast and not wearing their seatbelts," Mr Tooman said.

Last night, friend Drew West, 24, who grew up in Raglan with Mr Hepi and his twin brother, Shanley, paid tribute to a sports fanatic who loved his whanau.

"He was an awesome guy who always had this big cheeky smile on his face and who loved his sports. He's one of those guys who knows everyone and everyone knows him."

Mr Aikman and Mr Hepi were two of six to die on New Zealand roads at the weekend.

An 11-year-old girl was killed last night in a two-car crash that took the weekend road toll to six.

From the same collision, at Cave in South Canterbury about 7pm, a 47-year-old man was airlifted to Christchurch Hospital with serious leg injuries.

On Saturday, two Auckland men died in a crash on the Desert Rd in the central North Island.

The pair, aged in their 20s, were travelling south when the car they were in and a truck coming in the other direction collided in icy conditions at 7.40am. The truck driver was unhurt.

About 8.15pm on Saturday, a motorcyclist died after crashing on Moorhouse Ave in the Christchurch suburb of Waltham. He was Stephen John Kinloch, 37, of Christchurch.

Witnesses reported seeing Mr Kinloch travelling the wrong way on Moorhouse Ave before he crashed near Madras St.

Meanwhile, a Christchurch woman died in hospital on Saturday, three weeks after a police pursuit ended in a crash that killed two others.

Karleane Marie Magon, 20, was a passenger in the pursued car, which smashed into a concrete pole on July 10. Shannon Smiler-O'Connor, 26, died at the scene and the driver, Tama Regan Dobson, 27, died in hospital last week.

- additional reporting by NZPA