Five people are dead after road crashes in the first five days of the holiday road toll season - with a week to go before the period ends.
Yesterday two crashes, at either end of the country, left two dead.
A man died and three others were critically injured after a car and oncoming water tanker collided in the Bay of Plenty, shunting the car more than 100m before the truck driver could halt his vehicle.
The car had turned right out of Wilson Rd near Te Puke to travel south on to State Highway 2 when it hit the northbound tanker about 8am.
A witness said debris was scattered over the road and skidmarks could be seen where the truck had tried to stop.
He said the car was "totalled".
"It's flattened the car basically."
Four people in the car were trapped and firefighters worked to free them from the wreckage for at least 45 minutes.
A man in the vehicle was able to free himself unassisted and had minor injuries, police said.
A 42-year-old woman from Rotorua was last night at Tauranga Hospital in a serious but stable condition, a 19-year-old man was in a critical condition and last night due to have surgery at Waikato Hospital and a 28-year-old Rotorua woman was under assessment in the Emergency Department at Waikato Hospital.
The truck driver, who was unhurt and managed to free himself, was yesterday receiving counselling.
Western Bay of Plenty area commander Clifford Paxton said the crash was tragic and he urged motorists to take extreme care on the roads.
Three hours later, a 56-year-old man died after his motorcycle and a car collided on State Highway 7 at Hurunui, just north of Christchurch near the Marble Point Winery.
The Harley Davidson was travelling towards Hanmer Springs and the car towards Christchurch.
The motorcyclist was flown to Christchurch Hospital by the Westpac Helicopter in a critical condition and died soon after.
The five occupants of the car, who were all wearing seatbelts, were not injured.
On Saturday, a back-seat passenger in a car was electrocuted while climbing out of a vehicle that crashed into a power pole in Glentui in the Waimakariri District. He was last night named as Jamie Shane Webb, 25, from Christchurch. A spokesperson for his family said: "Jamie will be sadly missed by all of his friends and family."
On Boxing Day, a man died at Whakamarama in the Bay of Plenty when the rental car he was driving and another vehicle collided, critically injuring an elderly Omokoroa couple.
The 70-year-old man and the 74-year-old woman were yesterday in serious conditions in Tauranga Hospital.
The same day, a car being driven by a 22-year-old Chinese woman collided with a campervan at the intersection of State Highways 97 and 6 in Southland. She died in hospital on Saturday.
The holiday road period started at 4pm on Christmas Eve, and runs until 6am on Monday, January 5.
Yesterday
• A motorcyclist, 56, travelling toward Hanmer Springs on SH7, died after a collision with a car travelling towards Christchurch about 11am.
• A man died and three others were injured when their car and a water tanker collided about 8am at the intersection of SH2 and Wilson Rd, near Te Puke.
December 27
• A 22-year-old Chinese student died a day after the car she was driving was in a collision with a campervan at the intersection of SH97 and 6 in Southland.
• A back-seat passenger in a car died after being electrocuted on climbing out of a vehicle that crashed into a power pole in Glentui, in the Waimakariri District.
December 26
• A man died after the rental car he was driving was in a collision with a vehicle carrying an elderly couple at Whakamarama, Bay of Plenty. The couple were also injured.
