Trio die when car and ute collide

Three teenagers were killed after a head-on smash on a notorious stretch of North Waikato road last night.

Police said a ute and car collided head-on in wet weather on State Highway 2, between the Pink Pig Cafe and Maramarua Garage, at Maramarua about 8.15pm.

The 17-year-old woman driver, a man, 17, and another teenage woman in the car, died at the scene and had to be cut out of the wreckage by volunteer firefighters.

The driver of the ute was taken to Maramarua School and then airlifted to Auckland's Middlemore Hospital.

The Rotoroa man was reported to be in a serious condition this morning.

Mangatangi chief fire officer Don Shanks told the Waikato Times that it was chaos at the scene when they first arrived.

The rain had stopped, but the road was still wet.

Waikato road policing manager Inspector Leo Tooman said it appeared the women's westbound car failed to take a gentle left hand bend, spun out of control and ended up in the path of the eastbound ute, which hit it on the driver's side.

Mr Shanks said the area was known to be dangerous. There have been 31 deaths on the stretch of SH2 between Pokeno and the turnoff to Thames and another 56 people seriously injured since 2003.

But he said the number of fatalities had been reduced since improvements have been made to the highway with the opening of the Mangatawhiri Deviation. The changes followed a huge campaign from locals, including Mr Shanks, in 2005.

"We haven't had any fatals for a while," he said.

Mr Tooman said last night's crash occurred outside areas where the road had been improved.

The names of the dead teenagers, who are from the Poverty Bay area, are expected to be released later today.

- © Fairfax NZ News