A passenger in the front seat of a Holden Rodeo Utility died after the vehicle slammed into a concrete power pole yesterday even though she was a seatbelt.
The utility crossed the centre line to the opposite side of the road at the intersection of Wilsons Crossing Rd and Tussock Creek-Grove Bush Rd near Winton in Southland at 10.45am, police said.
The front passenger side of the ute rammed into the power pole, disrupting power supply to the area.
A 57-year-old local woman in the passenger seat died at the scene. She was wearing her seatbelt.
The 58-year-old driver was taken to Southland Hospital.
Less than an hour later, at 11.20am, a Nissan Terrano 4x4 vehicle driven by a 23-year-old female from Ohai lost control on a tight left-hand bend on a wet Winton-Wreys Bush Rd.
It ended up in a ditch, and a female passenger, one of three female passengers, was lucky to escape serious injury when she was thrown from the car.
A truck driver also died yesterday when his truck rolled down a bank in Demmocks Rd, Ashley Forest, about 60km north of the Christchurch, at 10am.
The Otago Daily Times said the two deaths yesterday contributed to a horror 24 hours on South Island roads.
The fatal accidents followed a two-car crash in Cromwell on Thursday that resulted in two deaths.
NZN