Six dead in spate of car crashes

Six people have died in car crashes since Sunday night.

Late on Sunday two cars collided head-on about 9.40pm on State Highway 6 north of Winton, Southland, killing three people.

A man and a woman in one of the cars died and a person in the other car died. All were aged in their 20s. A baby and a 2-year-old toddler, who were both in car seats, survived.

In Auckland, a teenager who died after a police chase on Monday morning was a passenger in a stolen car which was recently driven the wrong way on a motorway. Morocco Tai, 15, died while two others were trapped in a stolen car that hit a tree in the suburb of O¯ tara about 6am.

On September 22, he and four other teenagers were in a car that was driven on the wrong side of Auckland’s southern motorway.

Inspector Dave Simpson said police attempted to stop a stolen vehicle. The driver fled and less than a minute later, the car hit a tree. ‘‘This type of behaviour has to stop ... Fleeing driver incidents are incredibly dangerous.’’

Both passengers in the car were 16-year-old girls, one of whom is in a serious condition.

In Motueka, near Nelson, a motorcyclist died and the driver of a car suffered head injuries in a crash about 5.50am on Monday.

In Auckland, a man died after a car crash in the grounds of North Shore Hospital about 12.55pm. Police suspected the cause was medical but said it was too soon to confirm either way.