The weekend road toll rose to three tonight with the deaths of two people in separate crashes -- one in Nelson, the other in Warkworth, north of Auckland.
A youth died in the Nelson accident, caused by high speed, and soon after one person was killed in a motorcycle-car crash just south of Warkworth.
The first fatality of the weekend occurred soon after midnight Friday when a 37-year-old motorcyclist was killed when his machine crashed near Punakaiki on the West Coast.
None of the victims has yet been named.
Nelson police said the youth killed was the driver of a ute which ran off Maitai Valley Road at high speed about 5.15pm.
Senior Sergeant Stu Koefoed said the youth lost control and the ute crashed down a bank and slammed into a large tree.
A passenger was injured.
Police are now seeking help from the public about the driving of two cars after the Warkworth fatality.
Police could not tell NZPA whether the victim of the crash was the motorcyclist.
But at 8.30pm police said in a statement they wanted to hear "as soon as possible" from witnesses to the "driving behaviour" of a white Toyota Altezza car and a silver Subaru Legacy between Auckland Airport and the intersection of SH1 and Valerie Close, Warkworth.
"These vehicles were involved in the fatal crash in Warkworth involving a motorcyclist and it is believed that the mannerof driving of these two cars may have come to the attention of other motorists prior to the crash," the statement said.
