Waiheke grandfather killed doing burnouts

A grandfather killed in a car crash on Waiheke Island on a private gravel road had taken his 4WD to the site to do burnouts with a 16-year-old passenger with whom he had been drinking.

Willie Paul, 47, was speeding along the 800m driveway, which leads to the Onetangi Sports Park off O'Brien Rd on the western side of the island, on Tuesday night when he over-corrected his Toyota Hilux Surf and veered into a grassy bank on the right side of the road.

The vehicle flipped several times after hitting the bank, flinging Mr Paul - who was not wearing a seatbelt - out before coming to a stop.

The teenager, who was able to phone the ambulance from a cellphone, suffered several cuts and scratches but did not require hospital treatment.

He had complained of chest and shoulder pains, indicating he had been wearing a seatbelt.

Sergeant Stephen Ambler, officer in charge of the Waiheke Island police, said Mr Paul, a resident of the island, and the teenager had been drinking alcohol together before going for a "joy ride".

Police are waiting for toxicology results from an autopsy to see whether Mr Paul was over the legal alcohol limit.

The teenager had told police he was the passenger and Mr Paul was driving.Mr Ambler said the boy was a resident of Australia but was understood to be working on the island with Mr Paul.

The crash was one of three fatal accidents in wider Auckland on Tuesday which followed the Easter death toll - which finished at 6am - of 10.

Richard Galvan, 82, of Greenlane, died after he was hit by a bus in Onehunga on his way to get a blood test for a heart condition and a 47-year-old man who died when his truck, carrying cleaning equipment, rolled into a bank in Clevedon was yesterday named as Steven Arthur McNight, from Massey.

Also on Waiheke Island yesterday morning, a motorcyclist was taken to the mainland on the police launch after his motorcycle collided with at least one horse which had escaped on to the road from a paddock.

The man was discovered by a bus driver about 5.30am. His injuries were not life-threatening.