Police say speed, alcohol, inexperience and not wearing seat belts appear to have been factors in a horror crash which left a teenager dead and another critically injured in Waikato early yesterday morning.
Seventeen-year-old Shannon Robert Waaka, whose name was released this morning, was driving the car which smashed into a power pole on Browning St, Cambridge, shortly after midnight.
Three passengers were rushed to Waikato Hospital.
A 20-year-old man suffered serious injuries and last night remained in a critical condition.
A 19-year-old woman was treated in the emergency department before being discharged, while a 16-year-old girl was last night in a stable condition.
Police were still awaiting toxicology results to confirm Shannon had been drinking before the crash, but it appeared alcohol, speed, driver inexperience and not wearing seat belts were all contributing factors, district road policing manager Inspector Leo Tooman said
"It appears the car was being driven at speed before it collided with a power pole and spun out of control, its progress being halted by a tree on the front lawn of a family's home.
"Mr Waaka was in breach of his restricted licence at the time of the crash and indications from the serious crash unit, who returned to the scene yesterday, are that the car was travelling too fast for the conditions.''
The car involved did not belong to Mr Waaka.
Taupo MP Louise Upston, whose electorate includes Cambridge, said yesterday's accident was a tragedy and more needed to be done to prevent teenagers from speeding on roads.
"Any measures that we do put in place need to be around saving people's lives. It's just an absolute tragedy that this has happened,'' she said.
There were 15 other drivers processed for driving with excess breath alcohol in Waikato over the weekend with the highest reading taken from a 43-year-old man in Ngaruawahia on Saturday night who blew 994 micrograms per litre of breath. The legal limit is 400 micrograms.
On Thursday afternoon a woman near Morrinsville blew 579 micrograms as she went to collect her children from the school bus.
Yesterday's fatal crash followed another involving teenagers on Saturday night.
A 16-year-old suffered serious injuries when the ute he was driving lost control at a bend on Atarau Rd, about 24 kilometres north-east of Greymouth.
He and his 16-year-old passenger, who suffered moderate injuries, were taken to Greymouth Hospital.
On Friday two 10-year-old girls from Te Awamutu were rushed to Waikato Hospital following a car accident outside their school. They are in stable conditions in a children's ward.
