A Northland teenager, killed in a dramatic high-speed crash, was driving so fast that the car flew clear over a 22 metre-wide stream.
Anaru Toko Ahpene, 17, lost control of his friend's car and crashed on Western Hills Drive in Whangarei on July 26, 2009.
A coroner's report into his death, released today, paints a picture of a group of joyriders who had been drinking and speeding as they cruised around the city's streets in the early morning.
Coroner Brandt Shortland said the situation leading up to his death was "played out every weekend in New Zealand and through most towns and cities throughout New Zealand''.
Ahpene had not been drinking but had cannabis in his system when he lost control of his friend's Nissan Skyline GTS sometime after 3.30am.
A police serious crash report found he had been driving at at least 160kmh in the 70kmh zone when the car crossed the median strip and a wide grass verge near Manse St.
The car became airborne at about 127km/h and flew across the 22.5m-wide Waiarohia stream, crashing into the bank on the opposite side.
Ahpene was found dead of multiple traumatic injuries.
The inquest into his death heard how Ahpene was chosen as the driver because the two friends he was with had been drinking, while he had not.
They drove from Kaikohe to Whangarei, playing a "cat and mouse'' game with a motorcyclist on the way, before meeting up with other young car enthusiasts at a skate park.
They left the park to cruise around the streets of Whangarei with friends in two other cars, and were pulled up by a random police check.
Ahpene was fined for driving on a restricted licence, but was allowed to continue driving after a friend with a full licence travelled in the car with him.
The inquest heard how, in the moments before the fatal crash, the two other cars were driving alongside one another, while Ahpene sped ahead.
He accelerated away so quickly in the Nissan that it could not be seen from the other cars.
The report noted the other people in the crashed car were "extremely lucky to still be alive today''.
Mr Shortland said Ahpene was an important member of his family, despite his young age, having left school to work and take care of his sick mother.
He had acted responsibly for most of the evening, but his death was unfortunately one that was played out on New Zealand roads often.
"It matters not whether the setting is urban or rural. The fact of the matter remains that young drivers who die as a result of speed related deaths are over-represented in the fatality statistics.''
The four-lane road on which Ahpene died now has steel barriers installed along the median strip, which Mr Shortland said would ensure cars could no longer cross the centre.
