Man dies in funeral cortege crash

A Taranaki man riding in a family convoy to Northland to rebury the remains of his father was killed on Friday night, when his motorbike ploughed into a bank.

Ronald James Rupapera, 49, from Eltham, was one of four to die on the weekend roads.

The family was taking his father's remains to ancestral land in Kaitaia in Northland, when the BMW motorcycle he was riding crashed at 9.30pm near Mokau in northern Taranaki.

The matter has been referred to the coroner and serious crash unit staff were investigating.

Police have named a teenager driver who died after crashing on a one-lane bridge near Otorohanga, 65km south of Hamilton, early yesterday.

He was 18-year-old Christopher Jarrod Ralph.

It appeared Mr Ralph lost control of his Mazda sedan as he approached the bridge on Mangawhero Road and "slewed" into the barrier of the bridge before the car rolled, Waikato road policing manager Inspector Leo Tooman said.

Mr Ralph was last seen leaving an Otorohanga bar about 12.30am and found at 3am, and police were trying to determine how long he may have been trapped in the crashed car.

He was freed by emergency services but died en route to Waikato Hospital.

Police were investigating whether speed and alcohol were involved in the crash.

In Auckland, a six-year-old boy died when his family's van rolled on Auckland's southern motorway.

The vehicle swerved, crossed three lanes of traffic and crashed into the lane barrier, Manukau serious crash unit spokesman Sergeant Paul Latham told NZPA.

The boy was trapped under the flipped vehicle, dying shortly after the crash.

A 38-year-old pregnant woman, also a passenger in the car, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, Mr Latham said.

Five other people also in the van suffered various minor injuries.

Early inquiries suggested the passengers were not wearing seatbelts and police investigations were continuing, Mr Latham said.

In Golden Downs, Nelson, a 44-year-old male motorcyclist died after a collision with another rider on Stock Road about 1pm yesterday.

The other rider - a 51-year-old Northland man - was flown to Nelson hospital with a suspected neck injury and concussion.

The men were participants in the TT2000 South Island motorcycle rally, a two-day, 2000km ride around the northern part of the island. The two men were riding on the same side of the road, when the following rider rode into the lead rider.

Police had not yet talked to the survivor of the crash, and were appealing for witnesses - particularly two motorcyclists heading the other way, on the other side of the road, around the time of the crash, Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne McCoy said.

- NZPA