A Kapiti Coast woman killed in a crash involving an ambulance and a paramedic vehicle has been named.
Rhya Leanne Macready, 18, of Paraparaumu, died after the Mazda she was driving clipped the rear of the ambulance then collided head-on with the paramedic car on State Highway 41 near Taumarunui, about 4.30pm yesterday.
She was one of two deaths on deaths on the country's roads over the weekend.
Her male passenger, a 48-year-old relative, also from Paraparaumu, was airlifted to Waikato Hospital with serious head and chest injuries and was in a critical condition this morning.
The 50-year-old female ambulance officer driving the paramedic vehicle was also seriously injured and taken to Waikato Hospital by road.
She was said to be in a comfortable condition today.
Police said the crew of the ambulance, transporting two elderly victims of an earlier crash, were not injured.
The elderly couple were initially injured when their vehicle skidded off the road and into a ditch during a hailstorm. They suffered no further injuries in the second crash.
Taumarunui police Acting Senior Sergeant Dowie said the cause of the crash was being investigated but it appeared Ms Macready's car clipped the ambulance and then collided with the other vehicle during heavy rain.
A 12-year-old girl killed in an horrific car accident on her way home from netball practice on Saturday was also named today.
She was Bryer Rose Greenwood from Kaukapakapa, 10km north-east of Helensville.
Bryer's 8-year-old sister also sustained serious injuries in the crash near Helensville about 10.30am on Saturday.
Helensville Fire Station chief fire officer Ian Osborne said the scene was chaotic when he arrived to help.
It appeared the crash happened after the car started to drift off the left side of the road and its driver, the girls' mother, had over-corrected and swerved into the opposite lane.
Their car was square-on to oncoming traffic when "T-boned" by a 4WD -- smashing the passengers' side where the two girls were.
The girls' mother was also injured.
"She had quite severe lacerations but she was just so full of adrenaline that she was probably hiding some of the other injuries that she may have sustained," Mr Osborne said.
Fire crews cut them out of the wreckage and also had to take the roof off the four-wheel-drive to get its driver, a pregnant woman, out. She was not believed to be injured.
Last night, Bryer's mother and sister remained in a stable condition in hospital.
Bryer's family and friends have paid tribute to her on Facebook, describing her as gorgeous, happy, joyful and friendly.
"So so sad. She was a beautiful child coming into her teens very soon," a relative wrote.
"This world is so cruel to some people."
So far this year 147 people have been killed on the roads, compared with 207 at the same time last year.
