A teenage passenger killed when the car he was in slammed into a steel fence in Auckland overnight has been named.
David Sionepulu, 19, of Panmure, was a front-seat passenger in the car that crashed on Ngapipi Rd in Orakei at 2.20am.
The vehicle flattened rods in the steel fence and tore through wire mesh and a hedge, narrowly missing a nearby property.
Following the crash the male driver fled the scene and was still to be identified and located said police, who attended the scene with fire and ambulance.
Mr Sionepulu was the owner of the car.
It was the second crash in the same area overnight.
Two middle-aged men were in a critical condition in Auckland Hospital after a crash on Tamaki Drive at 12.30am in which a car hit trees at Okahu Bay.
The driver was a Glen Innes resident and the other man was a front seat passenger.
It was likely speed and alcohol were involved in both crashes, which were "entirely preventable", said Auckland City District Road Policing Manager Inspector Gavin Macdonald.
"It's frustrating for police and the public that some drivers continue to ignore the proliferation of messages and warnings about the dangers of driving too quickly and/or drinking and driving. As long as people continue to do this, families will be torn apart by road fatalities and long term injuries," he said.
Ngapipi Rd and Tamaki Dr were reopened about 6.30am.
Police urged the driver of the car involved in the fatal crash to contact police immediately.
The fatal crash came a day after one in Hamilton in which a 17-year-old male driver was killed when he was thrown from the stolen car he was driving.
A 14-year-old who was "partially restrained" in the front passenger seat, suffered critical leg injuries and a 15-year-old girl, who was in the rear and wearing a seatbelt, walked away from the crash.
