Partying group see mate tossed by van

A man is in a serious condition after being hit by this van. Photo / NZPA

A man was seriously injured after he was hit by a van and thrown several metres through the air on the Auckland waterfront early yesterday.

It was one of several serious accidents across the country that have killed four people so far this holiday weekend - six fewer than at the same time last year.

A witness to the accident in Quay St said the man was with friends before he was hit by a Fullers van about 2am.

Cin Cin on Quay head chef Ben Ransom said the van was travelling on Albert St away from town on a green light.

"All I heard was this car skidding, then I just saw a guy get hit. A drunk guy jumped in front of the van. Him and his mates were walking along the street, then he went to run across the road."

The impact threw the man into the air.

"He flew through the air and then landed on the ground. He was kind of by the lights and ended up by the driveway to Fullers."

The man, who appeared to be in his mid-20s, was with two or three friends at the time. They were "smashed" but knew the situation was serious for their friend.

"They just broke down, they were pretty torn up," Mr Ransom said.

The injured man was in a serious but stable condition in Auckland City Hospital.

The Easter Weekend road toll was four last night, including two motorcyclists. One died in hospital yesterday from injuries suffered in a collision in Wellington on Saturday while the second, a 50-year-old man, died after a collision with a horse float in Wairoa.

Yesterday morning 19-year-old Mitchell Thomas Clarke, a dairy worker from Duntroon, was killed when the car he was in crashed on SH83 in Otekaieke, 54km northwest of Oamaru. Another man in the car had to be cut free and was taken to Dunedin hospital in a serious condition.

The weekend's other road death was a young man, believed to be in his teens or early 20s, who died in a crash in the Wellington suburb of Johnsonville.

The man was driving a Subaru station wagon that had been stolen from a nearby address.

National road policing manager Superintendent Paula Rose appealed for people driving home today to drive safely and think about other road users.

"Take care before you hop in the car and while you're driving, and treat everyone else with the respect you would want."

The road deaths were disappointing but there were positive signs.

"It's better than [last Easter when 12 died] but it's not as good as we'd hoped for. Of concern is two of the deaths have involved motorcyclists so a big message is if you're out and about it's important to take care."

However, overall driver behaviour had been good, she said.