Speed, driver inexperience blamed for deaths of teen passengers at 'Bathurst'

Residents on the Whangarei road the locals call "Bathurst" believe speed was a factor in the crash that killed two teenage girls.

The pair, 17 and 18, were in a powerful Holden Commodore that spun out of control on Anzac Rd, a one-way street nicknamed after the famous Australian race circuit.

Five teenagers, four girls and a boy, were in the car when it failed to take a sharp corner early yesterday, sliding on its roof down a steep bank.

The two girls who died were sitting in the backseat and not wearing seatbelts.

Firefighters had to cut them free from the wreckage and St John ambulance treated the three survivors, who escaped with only minor injuries.

The teenage female driver was breath-tested by police, but had not been drinking.

A number of Anzac Rd neighbours believed speed was a factor in the crash. One woman, who asked not to be named, said local youths referred to the street as "Bathurst".

"That's what the kids call it. There are days when I'm too scared to reverse out of the driveway," the woman said.

Police officers from the Whangarei CIB and serious crash unit are investigating the crash, but were unable to be contacted yesterday.

Senior Constable John Larkin, of the Whangarei station, said that "driver inexperience" was a factor.

The names of the victims are yet to be made public, but next of kin have been notified.

In a second Northland fatality, a woman was killed when her car and a truck collided near Dargaville yesterday.

- additional reporting by Rachel Tiffen