Update - fatal car crash in Matakana

Waitemata, 5 February 2015 - Two people remain in Auckland Hospital this morning following a fatal car crash last night in Matakana.

Police and emergency services were called to Leigh Road in Matakana at around 4.40pm yesterday, after the car with 3 occupants was found by a passing motorist to have left the road and crashed into a 1 metre-high tree stump.

A large number of emergency services, including two rescue helicopters were sent to the scene and provided first aid to the patients, however a 48 year-old woman who was the rear-seat passenger was not able to be revived and died at the scene.

A 48 year-old man who was the front-seat passenger was transported to Auckland Hospital by ambulance and is now in a stable condition.

A 19 year-old woman, who was the driver, was critically injured and was airlifted to hospital. She remains in Auckland Hospital in a critical condition.

The three victims are all from Germany. The driver had been living and working in New Zealand since July last year. Her parents were the two passengers and had been here visiting for the past few weeks. Enquiries into the type of licence that the driver held will form part of the investigation and Police are not able to confirm anything more about this aspect at the moment.

The cause of the crash is being investigated. It was raining at the time of the crash and as part of the enquiry Police will look at whether this played any part. The serious crash unit investigation will take at least several weeks.

Interpol are helping to advise family members in Germany and once this has been completed Police will release the victim's name.

Inspector Mark Fergus, Rodney Area Commander says "This is a very sad situation, no-one who gets behind the wheel of a car expects this to happen and our thoughts are with the young driver and her family. We appreciate that there is often significant public interest in crashes involving foreign drivers however at the moment we need to let our investigation run it's course and what happened here will only be known once that has been completed."

Yesterday afternoon's series of car crashes on Waitemata roads are the stark reminder of the need to take extra care behind the wheel during bad weather.

More rain is forecast over the long weekend and Police are urging all drivers, particularly anyone heading north, to slow down.

"The roads in the Rodney area have some of the highest volumes of traffic on long weekends, you've got hundreds of Aucklanders heading north to the beaches and through the Puhoi tunnel, and out west on State Highway 16 to Muriwai" says Inspector Fergus.

"We hope that if anything can come out of yesterday, it's that people will actually slow down. If it's teeming with rain , slow down . It sounds so obvious but we've all experienced the drivers who fly past us as it's bucketing down, leaving us shaking our heads. We do not want to be having to deliver any more awful news to other families this weekend - so please, slow down."

ENDS

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