The road toll has soared to its highest level in seven years and police say we need to do better.
By midnight the annual road toll provisionally stood at 380 deaths after two more people died in crashes yesterday.
A man died in hospital after a car rolled and hit a fence on Keyte St in Whangarei yesterday morning.
The final road death for the year happened in a crash on the Appleby Highway in Tasman just after 9pm when a car and ute collided.
The death toll continued to climb for the fourth year running, jumping a whopping 53 more than last year - or one person a week - when 327 were killed on our roads.
Within two hours of the New Year, a smash on a bridge in the Bay of Plenty had already claimed its first victim. Police say a 69-year-old man died in a crash when two vehicles collided on the Maungatapu Bridge on State Highway 29A at 2.15am.
Today Road Policing assistant commissioner Sandra Venables said with the toll sitting at its highest since 2010 drivers everywhere needed to drastically improve their driving.
"Deaths and injuries on our roads have absolutely devastating impacts on families and communities," she said.
"There were a lot of people who missed spending Christmas and New Year's with their loved ones. They are grieving when they should be making memories.
"There is a still a lot of holiday left so please let's try to do better."
With so many more people on our roads right now it was important everyone was more cautious and aware when driving or riding, she said.
She said the New Zealand Police remained committed to reducing death and injury on our roads but could not do it alone and needed everyone's help to keep roads safe.
"So please, when you're in your car take care – drive to the conditions, wear your seatbelt, take breaks, don't drive after drinking or taking drugs, and put your phone away. A text message or phone call is not worth your life."
Venables asked motorists to be patient and courteous with each other on the roads.
"We're all just trying to get where we're going. So let's work together and do our best to make sure we all get there safely."
The Christmas-New Year Holiday road toll stands at 11.
