The person killed in a car crash on State Highway 2 this morning was a hitch-hiker.

The driver of the car fled the scene before emergency services arrived and Senior Constable Cory Ubels said the driver was still missing, after Police had used a drone to find anyone from the car in the nearby toetoe and maize bushes.

He said they had used the drone to make sure the driver had not crawled into the bushes and died.

Investigations were still underway but at this point Mr Ubels said it appeared there had been no evasive action taken by the driver. Police said it was possible the driver fell asleep.

A St John Ambulance spokeswoman said when services arrived at the scene on SH2 between Waipukurau and Hastings the driver was missing.

She said they worked on the passenger of the car but were unable to revive them. Mr Ubels said the passenger was a hitch-hiker, and police had spoken with the deceased's family.

The New Zealand Transport Agency said the crash happened about 3.50am near the intersection of Boundary Rd.

Diversions are still in place which include Te Aute Trust Rd and through the centre of Otane.

Less than a month ago Amberley Muller, 19, died on the same stretch of State Highway 2. The Waipawa woman was travelling south along SH2 near Hastings when her vehicle crossed into the path of an oncoming truck.

The Nissan Cefiro she was driving become wedged under the truck, about 1km south of the Pekapeka wetlands.

Fire crews spent a number of hours cutting her body from the wreckage after the three-vehicle crash.

A 20-year-old Hastings woman involved in a motorcycle collision on SH50 on March 5 remains in a critical condition in Wellington Hospital's Intensive Care Unit.