Cause of Far North crash still unknown: Police

Police are trying to determine why a car veered off a straight stretch of road and slammed into a bridge in the Far North, killing its 46-year-old driver.

The car smashed into the two-lane bridge near Peria, east of Kaitaia, shortly before 8am yesterday.

The man, who was probably not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene despite attempts to resuscitate him.

Police investigating the crash did not yet know how the car came to veer off the road, Senior Sergeant Geoff Ryan of Kaitaia police said.

"The roads were dry, it hadn't been raining, I think it was light at that time so the visibility would have been good," he told NZPA.

"He's obviously drifted off the road -- not far off the road, but he's drifted off the road and slammed into the bridge.

"But we don't know what's the cause of that, whether he's been distracted -- we really don't know."

Police were still trying to contact the man's family.

The death has been referred to the coroner and a post-mortem would be conducted in Whangarei.

 

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