Southern drivers were among those caught up in a weekend of carnage on New Zealand roads, from Bluff to the Far North.
A spate of accidents saw three people killed and 19 injured - three seriously - in at least nine crashes during the weekend.
Six of the crashes occurred in the South Island, four of those from Oamaru south, as emergency services were kept busy.
The fatalities included one on Friday evening in North Canterbury, another in the Far North on Saturday night and a third before dawn in the Hutt Valley yesterday.
In the Far North at 10.15pm on Saturday, a lone driver died at the scene of a single-car crash on Kaitaia-Awaroa Rd, which was being investigated by the Serious Crash Unit.
Another person died and five others were injured after a car and ute collided on the Hutt Valley motorway, slightly north of Silverstream, just before 4am yesterday.
Of those injured, one was airlifted in a critical condition to hospital. Two others also in the car were injured - one seriously, while the other had minor injuries.
The two travelling in the ute suffered moderate to minor injuries.
Earlier in North Canterbury, a man, the sole occupant of a bus, died after his vehicle careened off Rotherham Rd into water about 7.45pm on Friday. He was Scott William Mieras (60), of Takaka.
Police are investigating the circumstances of the crash.
Following a single vehicle crash on Cranleigh Rd, near Gore, about 3am on Saturday, two people with moderate injuries were flown to Dunedin Hospital, a police spokeswoman said.
Three people were in the vehicle when it crashed, and two were thrown from the vehicle, while the third was initially reported trapped.
Two helicopters transport the two most seriously injured patients to Dunedin Hospital, while the third was treated at the Clutha Health centre in Balclutha.
Earlier, a driver was taken to Southland Hospital with moderate injuries after a car collided with a power pole on Marine Parade, in Bluff, about 8.30pm on Friday.
In Oamaru, two people received moderate injuries after their car rolled on Solway St near Wansbeck St just before 1am on Saturday.
Seven more people in two southbound cars escaped injury after colliding on State Highway 1, near Moeraki, when one vehicle braked to turn into a driveway shortly before 11am on Saturday, police said.
Power was cut to about 300 homes in the Moeraki area, and restored about four hours later.
Two people were hurt - one had moderate injuries and the other minor injuries - after a crash in New Plymouth at 8.40pm on Friday. The pair were taken to Taranaki Hospital.
Another three were injured in a smash in Lucas Heights, on Auckland's North Shore, about 10.25pm on Friday.
St John ambulance took the patients to North Shore and Auckland hospitals. One person was in a serious condition and the other two had moderate injuries.
Just before 12.30am on Saturday, four people were involved in a crash at Claremont, near Timaru. All had moderate injuries and were taken to Timaru Hospital.
