Teen's death takes road toll to five

A teenager is dead after a car crash last night on State Highway Three, between Egmont and Inglewood.

Sergeant Bruce Mackay said two other passengers had serious injuries and a third had minor injuries.

Mr Mackay said all four passengers were in their teens and three were trapped in the car when the accident happened about 9pm.

"It would appear at this stage that the vehicle has struck a bridge. The cause of this accident is yet to be established," Mr Mackay said.

The death took the weekend road toll to five.

Three people died on Saturday night when a driver attempted to overtake a line of traffic on a bend and collided with another car near Te Puke, southeast of Tauranga.

The driver, Elton Skipper, 33, of Napier, his passenger Terakina Selwyn, 21, of Te Puke and the driver of the other car, Susan Sutherland, 54, of Whakatane, all died at the scene.

"[Mr Skipper] has tried to pass a long line of traffic on a moderate bend, doing an excessive speed and crashed into a car coming in the other direction," Tauranga police sergeant Wayne Lambert said.

A 19-year-old who was in Mr Skipper's car was moderately injured and a 55-year-old man in the other car, believed to be Mrs Sutherland's husband, Martin, was seriously injured.

Both had to be cut from the wreckage and were recovering in Tauranga Hospital.

On Friday night Michelle Katherine Grace, 39, was killed in Invercargill when her car collided with a Nissan Terrano 4WD.

Police allege the other driver ran a red light and she has been charged with drink driving causing death and failing to stop.

The woman will reappear in Invercargill District Court on May 29.

- NZHERALD STAFF and NZPA