The road toll for Labour Weekend provisionally stood at three this morning, equalling the lowest on record.
Inspector John McClelland, national manager of the police commercial vehicle investigations unit, said the road toll had been fairly consistent over the past few years.
"People are certainly aware of the consequences of inattention when they're driving and so on," he told Radio New Zealand.
For a long weekend, the road toll figure was good, he said, but "unfortunately any death is one too many and we'll still keep plugging along".
"It would be really good to have a weekend like this with no fatalities." Mr McClelland said the big message to drivers was attention to detail, concentrating, wearing seatbelts and no drinking and driving.
He congratulated police staff who were on duty during the weekend, because, he said, their presence did have an impact on driver behaviour.
Yesterday police named two young men killed in a crash near Wellington's ferry terminal on Saturday night.
They were David Setu Patrick Iafeta, 19, and Jimmy Junior Rere, 20, both of Porirua. Wellington CIB Detective Sergeant Donna Howard said the driver, another young male, remained in a serious but stable condition at Wellington Hospital and police hoped to speak with him soon.
The men were killed when the car hit a barrier on the southbound lane of State Highway 1 near the Aotea off-ramp about 10pm on Saturday.
One of them was flung 40m over the motorway barrier on to the ferry terminal carpark. Ferry staff rushed to his aid but he died before ambulance staff arrived. The second man also died at the scene after landing on the motorway.
Police said it was believed that the men had both been wearing seatbelts but could not explain how they were thrown from the vehicle.
It was not yet known what caused the crash. Ms Howard said no other vehicles were thought to be involved.
Yesterday afternoon a five-year-old boy died after being struck by a car outside a Hutt Valley church.
Lower Hutt police Senior Sergeant Darren Russell said the boy had been walking in the courtyard outside the Assembly of God Church in Stokes Valley while his family was inside.
A car carrying members of the congregation came up the driveway and hit the boy while parking.
