Glass and other debris lay strewn on State Highway 26 at Eureka yesterday, while the dead man's Mercedes sat crumpled with its doors ripped off its hinges after firefighters used the jaws of life to free him. A Chorus van suffered serious damage to the front and a Suzuki Swift appeared to suffer minor damage.
The two vehicles' sole occupants were both taken to Waikato Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries after the crash just before 3pm.
The man's death is the second Waikato fatality in a week after Indian student Dilbag Singh Sekhon, 20, was killed in a crash with a truck and trailer unit on SH2 near Paeroa last week.
The deaths mark a dreadful year for road police in the district with more than 15 people killed so far.
In the latest smash, Eastern Waikato police area commander Inspector Hywel Jones said the driver of the Mercedes was heading towards Morrinsville when he lost control on a sweeping bend and left the road. The man then over-corrected, veered into the oncoming lane and collided with the van and Suzuki Swift.
The road was closed and diversions were in place until at least 6pm as emergency crews cleared the scene and the Waikato serious crash unit investigated.
Mr Jones said it was too early to say how the crash happened.
"The conditions were dry and the road appears to be adequate for the conditions [yesterday] ... There's no such thing as an accident. They're all preventable and we would ask people to bear that in mind, check their speed and wear their seatbelts."
Police were last night contacting next of kin before naming the dead man.
Others to have died in crashes this year include 18-year-old Matthew Richard Perkins Blyde of Matamata, who died in a crash near the town last month, and Peterus Johannes Cornelissen, 59, who lost control of his motorbike near Kopu.
Three American tourists -- Ruth-Ann Peterson, 49, and her husband, Mitchell Peterson, 50, from Monroe, and Tamara Garlick Barnett from Richfield, Utah -- were killed in a smash near Templeview, Hamilton. Mrs Barnett's husband survived and has since returned home.
By Belinda Feek of the NZ Herald
