Local man dies in Te Whau car crash

Speed and alcohol were factors in last night's fatal crash on Waiheke Island say police.

Willie Paul, 47, a grandfather from Waiheke Island, died when his four-wheel drive vehicle rolled several times and crashed into a tree while being driven at speed along a gravel track.

He had been drinking and was not believed to have been wearing a seat belt, resulting in him being flung out of the vehicle, police said.

His 16-year-old passenger escaped with minor injuries.

Sergeant Stephen Ambler from the Waiheke Island police said both Mr Paul and the teen had earlier been drinking at a function and had latterly gone to the gravel road.

The vehicle "lost control" in loose gravel.

"The driver over-corrected and the vehicle flipped several times before coming to a rest. The deceased was thrown from the vehicle as it was rolling," Mr Ambler told

Source: NZPA.

In another Waiheke traffic incident a motorcylist has been injured after colliding with horses

A motorcyclist was ferried by police launch to Auckland Hospital this morning after colliding with loose horses on Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

Police said the man's injuries were not life threatening but he was taken to the mainland by the launch Deodar which had just delivered members of the police serious crash unit to the island to investigate a fatal crash late last night.

The motorcyclist was believed to have hit at least one horse which escaped on to a road from a paddock.

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz