Hamilton woman dies from crash injuries

File photo / NZ Herald

A 69-year-old Hamilton woman has died in hospital following a crash on Friday afternoon.

At the time of the crash, on State Highway 1 at Karapiro, a member of the public was on the phone to police reporting concerns about a woman driving northbound in a white Mitsubishi Galant, Waikato acting road policing manager Inspector Dana McDonald said.

"It was described as allegedly weaving across the road," he said.

Tragically, as police were responding, the Galant collided with a Toyota Echo which was also in the northbound lane, but stationary in a line of traffic halted for road works.

The car's occupant, 69-year-old Hamilton woman, Maureen Joan Davies, was seriously injured in the crash and was airlifted to Waikato Hospital.

She died in hospital early yesterday morning.

The crash was being investigated by the Serious Crash Unit and police were appealing for any witnesses who hadn't already spoken to officers to make contact with Cambridge Police on (07) 827 5531.

"While it's too early to speculate on the cause of the crash we can confirm this incident was one of 23 collisions attended by police over the weekend, several of which occurred in wet weather," Mr McDonald said.

With varying weather forecast and Waitangi Day looming, police were urging motorists to watch their following distances.

Ms Davies' death was a tragedy both the public and police were working to prevent, he said.

Popular holiday weekend routes including SH29 over the Kaimai Range and SH25/SH25A around the Coromandel Peninsula were expected to have heavier than normal traffic flows on Friday, Mr McDonald said.

"What we see in the Coromandel in particular over the summer holidays is an area served by rural roads with a population of 15-30,000 swell to over 130,000.

"One of the challenges associated with this is people come off the northern motorways on to our rural road network needing to adjust their driving habits.

"An example of this was last week on Auckland Anniversary Day when a motorist 18th in a line of 21 cars on SH25 tried to pass number 17 in line on a bend and was on the wrong side of the road confronting a patrol car, what we need in these conditions is patience, not pace setting."

Police would be maintaining a highly visible presence on Waikato roads this week with the reopening of schools and an even greater presence on the roads this Waitangi weekend, Mr McDonald said.