The holiday road toll stands at three this morning following fatal crashes in the Bay of Plenty and Canterbury.
A person died in a collision between a car and a milk truck near Paengaroa around 8am today, in which four of the five people in the car were trapped inside the wreckage.
Three people suffered critical injuries, while another was able to get themselves free of the vehicle with only minor injuries. The truck driver had escaped without serious injury, and was receiving support from Victim Support, police said.
It followed a fatal crash in Canterbury last night, in which one person died after a car hit a power pole.
Five others suffered moderate injuries in the crash on O'Hallorans Rd, Glentui, in the Waimakariri District, around 6pm.
It was unclear at this stage whether the death was caused by injuries from the crash or electricity from the power lines, Andy Gray, of the St John Ambulance southern communications centre said.
Both crashes were being investigated by police.
The deaths brought the holiday road toll to three, coming after a fatal crash in Tauranga on Boxing Day.
A man died after the rental car he was driving collided with another car, critically injuring an elderly couple from Omokoroa. They remained in Tauranga Hospital's intensive care unit yesterday.
This morning's crash continued a nightmare day on the roads yesterday, which saw several crashes and traffic jams around the country.
A spate of crashes kept emergency services busy, while police and the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) appealed for patience from motorists - even going as far as asking people to postpone their journeys until another day as traffic backed up north and south of Auckland and in the Coromandel.