A man police initially believed to be missing following a triple-fatal crash on the Desert Road yesterday turned out not to be in the car at the time of the incident, police have confirmed.
Three people died in the two-vehicle crash which closed the Desert Road near Waiouru in the early hours of Monday, as the King's Birthday road toll climbed to seven — the highest in a decade.
Emergency services were called to the crash on State Highway 1 at Waiouru between Shawcroft Rd and Access Rd No 17 at around 2.55am.
Police initially believed one person was possibly unaccounted for directly after the crash and conducted a search through the rugged alpine terrain.
"A search and rescue operation was launched in the event that they were nearby and potentially injured," a police spokesperson said.
"Police separately were making follow-up enquiries to establish if they were, in fact, elsewhere at the time of the crash - which ended up being the case."
Police confirmed the man had been located on Monday afternoon.
"There are no further concerns for his welfare and police are speaking with him," a police spokesperson said.
After a "horror weekend" on NZ roads, Inspector Peter McKennie encouraged the public to report incidents of risky road behaviour. (Source: Breakfast)
Police have reiterated their "no tolerance" stance on risky road usage following a 'horror weekend' on NZ roads.
The triple-fatal crash was the final and deadliest of the King's Birthday holiday period, which ran from from 4pm on Friday to 6am on Tuesday.
Acting Director of Road Policing Inspector Peter McKennie said police were still seeing risky driving behaviour on the roads.
"They might call them well-intentioned risks or well-thought-out risks but they're putting other people at risk as well as themselves," he told Breakfast.
McKennie encouraged members of the public to contact police if they saw any risky driving.
"If police see those risks, they will intervene and you will be caught."
While investigations into the specific causes of the holiday weekend crashes are ongoing, McKennie reiterated that drivers should "continue to do the basics".
"Make sure your vehicle is in a safe condition to drive, make sure you're well rested, haven't taken alcohol or drugs, your cellphone is off and seatbelt is on."
McKennie said once driving people needed to "be aware all the time and be prepared to react if something goes wrong".
Monday's crash was the second fatal incident on the same stretch of highway in just over a month.
Three people were killed in a crash between a car and a tanker truck on the same stretch between Shawcroft Rd and Access Rd No17 just over month ago on April 27.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including weather watches in force, and the GOAT makes a comeback. (Source: 1News)
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