Ute driver dies in crash
A man at the wheel of a ute has died after colliding with a quarry truck near Matamata.
The man, who officers at the scene said wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, died at the scene yesterday.
The 5.15am crash happened on a notoriously dangerous tourist route to Hobbiton, a few hundred metres away from an intersection with a deadly reputation.
The J Swap Contractors Ltd truck involved ended up half buried in a hedge with a badly damaged front end. It was eventually hauled out by another truck.
Debris littered the highway and the ute wreckage was taken away mid-morning.
The ute driver’s immediate next of kin have been advised, Waikato police Senior Sergeant Simon Cherry said.
The crash closed State Highway 29 until noon.
An investigation into the collision is underway.
There have been nine deaths on Waikato roads so far this year, a decrease from the 17 lives lost by March 13 last year.
In January 70-year-old Eiko Hawthorne was killed in a fivecar crash in Taupiri.
She had been the front passenger of a Mitsubishi, struck by another car towing a trailer.
A week later, a couple were killed in a two-car crash in Waitomo.
Later that month, a motorcyclist was killed after crashing into a sign on a busy Hamilton street.
And in early February, motorcyclist Laurie Webster was killed at the Meremere Drag Raceway.
The same day, Gerald Brian Chambers, 76, died after rolling on his quad bike.