Wife runs out of petrol on way to her injured husband's side

Police are now investigating this morning's fatal crash. Photo / File

A woman frantically racing to a serious crash involving her husband ran out of petrol a few hundred metres down the road.

She then had to stop and ask for help to get closer to the crash, which involved two cars, on Clevedon-Kawakawa Bay Rd, on Auckland's eastern coast.

Northern fire communications shift manager Scott Osmond said the car's occupant was cut free by firefighters but police have since confirmed he died at the scene.

A woman who works near the crash scene said a woman stopped at the store saying her husband was involved in the crash and her vehicle had run out of petrol.

She was desperate for a lift to get further up the road to be by her husband's side.

"She had run out of petrol and needed to be taken further up the road."

Police said another vehicle had crossed the centre line and collided with the man's vehicle

The crash happened outside the gate of Janine McMiken's property.

"Unfortunately it looks like the poor man has passed away. It's pretty sad."

She said it wasn't the first crash outside her property and said it was unlikely to be the last as people tend to misjudge the degree of the bend.

"We have a terrible road. People just lose it. On Christmas Day we drove out of our driveway to see a man lose it and smack straight into the bank."

McMiken said there's been a "huge number" of accidents about 5km down the road at "Ness Valley corner".

"There's a huge amount of accidents there at the moment because the road is so bald. It needs major maintenance.

"I've got brand new tyres and the tyres still slip on it. There's no metal [on the road]."

Resident Debbie May labelled the Ness Valley corner a "death trap" and was surprised it wasn't the site of this morning's crash.

The road will now be closed for several hours as the police serious crash unit investigate.

The 14km stretch of road between Kawakawa Bay and Clevedon is now closed at the intersections of McNicol Rd and Clevedon-Kawakawa Rd and Kawakawa Bay Rd and Turei St.