KEY POINTS:
A man died after being thrown from his car in a head-on collision with a truck south of Te Awamutu today.
Waikato police say the crash happened close to the site of a near identical collision yesterday.
Today's crash happened early this afternoon at the intersection of State Highway 3 and Te Mawhai Rd and the man's death was the first fatality in five serious crashes in Waikato since Friday.
Three of the crashes involved trucks.
Serious Crash Unit staff are still completing their investigation into today's fatality, but police say initial indicators were the man's 1971 Chevrolet Camaro was on the wrong side of the road when it collided head-on with the northbound stock truck.
The man, the sole occupant of the car, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene from his injuries.
The driver of the truck and trailer unit was shaken up by the crash while a stock dog travelling in a compartment on the truck was killed.
In yesterday's collision a Te Awamutu man suffered serious leg injuries after his car and a Fonterra tanker collided at the intersection of State Highway 3 and Ngahuia Rd, south of Kihikihi, about 4pm.
Te Awamutu police Constable Mark Strongman said the truck driver was not seriously injured. The driver of the car was trapped for about 40 minutes.
The collision pushed the truck's cab and front unit on to its side on the opposite side of the road.
Today's crash takes the region's road toll to 42 compared to 53 for the same time last year and has left road policing staff searching for answers on how to stop the carnage.
Waikato road policing manager Inspector Leo Tooman said the fine, warm weather didn't help drivers, contributing to driver fatigue.
"It only takes a micro-sleep for people to find themselves facing disaster and as the case in three crashes in recent days you have a vehicle weighing say 1.2 tonnes versus a vehicle weighing 44 tonnes.
"It's pretty easy to work out who will come off worst in that situation and we're very fortunate more lives haven't been lost in similar crashes."
More than 30 per cent of road deaths in Waikato have involved a truck or heavy commercial vehicle, although often the larger vehicle was not at fault.
With only a thin line of paint separating vehicles coming toward each other at high speed, Mr Tooman said it was imperative drivers didn't cross the centre line.
"It's better to crash through a farmer's fence, you'll probably survive and a fence can be repaired but a head-on collision with an oncoming truck is very unforgiving," he said.
- NZPA
