Illness caused truck crash

The holiday road toll stood at 12 last night, with 400 deaths for the year so far.

Police removed from the toll the death of a truck driver who veered off the Te Atatu motorway on-ramp in Auckland about 3.40am and came to rest in a paddock, as it was caused by illness. His death was initially reported as the result of a crash.

Acting police national road safety manager Inspector Dave Parsons said it had been hoped the 2002 toll would not break 400, something that had not happened since 1963.

The holiday road toll at the same time last year was 16, with 450 deaths for the year. "At least we're going in the right direction," Mr Parsons said.

Two people killed when a car they were in crashed into a cliff face on the West Coast on Sunday were Christine Louise Palmer, 18, of Greymouth, and Bobby Allan Amai, 22, of nearby Runanga.

The pair were on the left side of the car when it hit the cliff at 6.30am about 25km north of Greymouth on State Highway 6. The driver was taken to hospital with injuries and was to undergo a blood alcohol test.

A woman seriously injured in an accident near Waipukurau on Friday died in Hawkes Bay Hospital on Sunday night. She was Sue Kingston, 34, of Palmerston North.

Her stepdaughter, Charlotte Wilson, 16, died at the accident scene.

Janice Ethel Robinson, 59, of Tokoroa, died instantly in a crash on Sunday, 4km south of Tokoroa, when her car, travelling north on State Highway 1, and a southbound vehicle collided about 2pm.

- NZPA

Herald feature: Cutting the road toll

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