Killer driver sought

Police are hunting for the driver of a mystery car with tinted windows who fled the scene of a fatal crash on Friday night.

The car allegedly "tapped" a Honda hatchback carrying five young men on Auckland's southwestern motorway at about 9.45pm.

The contact caused the car to veer off the motorway and drive up a bank at the side of the carriageway before it rolled several times.

Backseat passenger Tarun Naicker, 20, was killed, and three occupants who suffered serious injuries were taken to Middlemore Hospital.

Sergeant Stu Kearns of the Waitemata serious crash unit said police urgently needed to speak to the driver of the mystery car, which is described as a black or dark blue Toyota, believed to be a Levin model.

Police suspect the Toyota may have been driving erratically before the crash.

Kearns said it was unclear if the driver was aware of the crash, and added it may have been speeding.

It was too early to tell if alcohol was a factor in the crash because the remaining passengers had not been interviewed, he said.

Kearns said: "One of the passengers alleges that the car tapped them from behind."

The five men travelling in the car were all aged in their late teens or early 20s.

Friends of Naicker, from Papatoetoe, last night posted messages of condolence on his Facebook page.

Amal Maharaj wrote: "R.I.P brother, u would be deeply missed, may your soul rest in peace. Tarun."

Anthony Hashan Fernando said: "You were great example for all of us. Its unfair you had to leave so soon buh you taught me a lesson, i will neva eva race agn!"

Anyone who was driving on the motorway between Hillsborough Rd and Massey Rd at the time, or has information on the Toyota, is asked to contact police.

Meanwhile, the body of a 70-year-old woman was found yesterday afternoon in a car that rolled 50 metres down a gully in a remote part of the Bay of Islands.

The car left Russell Rd in Whangaruru, about 8km from the Oakura Rd turnoff, as it was heading towards Russell.

Inspector Danny Meade, of police northern communications, said it was unclear whether the woman died as a result of the crash, or if she had died beforehand.

"We're still speaking to witnesses," he said.

A driver had to be cut from his car after a head-on collision on the Otago Peninsula, just outside of Dunedin.

The man suffered a broken leg and was airlifted to hospital following the accident on Harrington Point Rd just after 4pm yesterday.

Constable Jon Dunn, of Dunedin police, said the man's Ford Falcon collided with an oncoming vehicle, and a third vehicle which had been following smashed into both cars.

He said another man suffered a possible broken arm and four others were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

All three cars were written off.

Dunn said the serious crash unit was investigating.

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NZPA