KEY POINTS:
A woman driver killed when she apparently tried to complete a u-turn in front of a milk tanker was named today by police.
She was Eira Catherine Peters, 67, from Putaruru.
The crash happened on a 50kmh section of State Highway 1 running through Putaruru at 8pm last night.
Police said Ms Peters pulled out from a parking space before attempting the u-turn.
A passenger in the car, a 68-year-old Putaruru man, was recovering today in Waikato Hospital with a broken collar bone and severe bruising, Sergeant William Hale of Tokoroa police said.
The crash was the second fatal accident of the weekend in the Waikato.
Mother-of-two Amy Gardiner, 22, and Chad James Arnold, 15, both from Huntly and both passengers, died when the car in which they were travelling hit a four-wheel-drive vehicle at an intersection on State Highway 27, north of Morrinsville.
Driver Jesse Owen Kennerley-Williams, from Waihi Beach, and a third passenger in the car suffered moderate injuries.
The two occupants of the 4WD escaped with minor injuries.
Ms Gardiner, a front seat passenger, died on impact while Chad Arnold, 15, died shortly after.
The dead woman was said to be Mr Kennerley-Williams' girlfriend.
Police said drugs or alcohol were not believed to be a factor in the crash but they were still investigating.
Charges were likely to follow against Mr Kennerley-Williams.
- NZPA
