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Police have named a woman who drove the wrong way along Auckland's Northwestern Motorway for about 10km before colliding with two oncoming vehicles.
She was Odette Sheree Thompson, a 33 year-old events manager, from Te Atatu.
Ms Thompson died at the scene, 300m west of the Te Atatu interchange.
Sergeant Stu Kearns of the Waitemata serious crash unit told the Herald Ms Thompson's car hit an oncoming Toyota HiAce van, glancing off it before hitting a Ford utility vehicle.
The van came to a stop in a safety shoulder at the side of the motorway but the Ford had its deck torn off it and smashed over a light pole as it slid out of control, he said.
"I believe, from the damage, that he's swerved left at the last minute and she's probably collected the back end of his tray," Mr Kearns said.
"He swerved and got hit and pushed sideways and he went through a light stand and landed in the grass."
The occupants of both oncoming vehicles suffered minor injuries. They were treated at the scene by St John Ambulance paramedics.
Ms Thompson's green Mazda station wagon stopped in a ditch at the side of the road, leaving a 200m crash scene in its wake.
Mr Kearns said police were not sure how or where she got on to the motorway but officers were keen to hear from anyone who might have witnessed anything leading up to the crashes.
The earliest known witness reported seeing the woman driving on the wrong side of the motorway by Western Springs. Police were first alerted at 1.44am.
Mr Kearns said he did not believe a lot of motorists had been put at risk by the woman's driving.
"For her to get the distance she's got without a prang indicates to me that it must be a very light flow of traffic."
Mr Kearns said it could take three weeks before toxicology results were returned.
