By CHERIE TAYLOR AND ABIGAIL CASPARI in Rotorua
A man is dead and nine other people are seriously injured after a weekend of mayhem on Central North Island roads.
A 49-year-old Torere resident was killed on Saturday night when his car went off the road and rolled into a deep culvert on State Highway 35 near Torere Beach, about 15km east of Opotiki.
The man's body was not found until 8.30am yesterday when local residents discovered his car.
Police have not yet named the man and their inquiries are continuing.
At about 12.30pm on Saturday a motorcyclist was injured when he lost control of his bike, skidded in gravel, hit a bank then slammed into a tree on State Highway 30 near Lake Rotoma, said a Kawerau police spokesman.
The 38-year-old Mt Maunganui man was treated at the scene and taken to Whakatane Hospital with back injuries.
An hour later at least six people were injured when a car heading towards Whakatane from Rotorua crossed the centreline on State Highway 30 at Lake Rotoehu, about 30km northeast of Rotorua.
Their car collided with another car travelling west, the spokesman said.
There were three Rotorua men and a three-year-old child in the east-bound car and an Opotiki couple with two children in the west-bound car which was towing a horse float.
The road was closed for about three hours while the trapped and injured were cut free from the damaged vehicles and treated by St John paramedics.
"We had cars and people backed up for miles. We have a lot of people with a lot of broken bones. It's been mayhem out there this weekend," the Kawerau police officer said.
A Rotorua man, in his 30s, who suffered serious head injuries was flown to Rotorua Hospital by the Tenon Rescue Helicopter before being transferred to Auckland Hospital where he remains in a critical condition.
A woman in her 40s from Opotiki who broke her leg was taken to Rotorua Hospital by St John Ambulance along with other victims of the crash.
Police are still investigating the cause of the accident.
An hour later and Rotorua St John Ambulance were attending an accident outside Rotorua Boys' High School where a 23-year-old Rotorua man suffering neck and shoulder injuries, was taken to Rotorua Hospital said St John area manager Rob Gardiner.
No further details of that accident were available.
Then at about 9.30pm on Saturday a flat deck utility flipped onto its roof 2km north of Gisborne Point at Lake Rotoiti, trapping the sole occupant in the cab.
A 27-year-old Rotoiti man was treated at the scene by St John Ambulance paramedics then flown to Rotorua Hospital by the Tenon Rescue Helicopter.
He was in a critical condition with severe head injuries and was also transferred to Auckland Hospital where he was to undergo brain surgery.
Police are also investigating the cause of that accident.
Meanwhile, three Auckland women in their 40s suffered minor injuries when the car they were in was hit by another car which was trying to overtake them near Wairakei yesterday morning.
Police say the impact sent the car the women were in veering off the road and through a fence into a paddock.
The impact left powerlines dangling.
The other car also went off the road and into the paddock but its two occupants were uninjured.
Weekend of mayhem on our highways
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