Maraetai crash: Mother says lights came at her before fatal crash

The dead man's late-model sedan was barely recognisable after the Whitford accident. Picture / SNPA

An Auckland mother-of-three who walked away from a crash that killed a man yesterday has described seeing headlights swerve on to her side of the road moments before the two cars collided.

Beachlands doctor Nikki Retford escaped with minor injuries from the early-morning crash on Whitford-Maraetai Rd soon after 6am.

Images from the scene show the man's late-model sedan as barely recognisable, lying upside down and in pieces near Dr Retford's largely unscathed 4WD Dodge Journey.

Dr Retford's husband, Darren Retford, said his wife left home just before 6am and was driving along the same 100km/h stretch of road she travelled on every morning.

The car is barely recognisable following the crash. Photo / Daniel Hines

He received a "terrifying" phone call from her minutes later.

"About 6.08am I got a phone call from her saying she had been in an accident and that she's okay but the other guy didn't have a pulse."

Emergency services arrived at the accident - near Whitford's Zen Gardens - to find the man had died.

A St John spokesman said Dr Retford was initially assessed as having serious injuries, but that was downgraded to minor before she was taken to Middlemore Hospital.

Mr Retford said his wife was driving away from Beachlands and was near a bend when she saw headlights coming towards her.

"She just saw two lights coming to her and thought, 'He's on my side of the road, what's going on?' The next moment she thought, 'I'm going to die' and after that, nothing."

The family, who have two sons and a daughter aged 7, 6 and 2, had upgraded their vehicle from a Volkswagen stationwagon at Christmas time. "I think if she was in her old car she wouldn't be here today."