The Easter road toll is already at seven - almost double the 2019 and 2020 combined Easter toll of four.
The latest death is a motorcyclist who collided with a car north of Te Kao, on Far North Road or State Highway 1, around 11.30 this morning.
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Easter weekend road toll rises to seven, one person critical
NZ Herald
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A pedestrian and motorcyclist are among seven people who have died since Thursday evening. Photo / File
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At the other end of the North Island, a driver died from their injuries in hospital after hitting a power pole on Tasman Rd in Ōtaki, Kāpiti Coast, around 9.30pm last night.
In nearby Wellington 30 minutes later, a male pedestrian died after colliding with a bus on Taranaki St.
Police spent the night examining the scene and the road didn't reopen until shortly after 7am this morning.
A police spokesperson said it was "quite a significant" crash scene in terms of the size of the area and it took some time to process.
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A Greater Wellington Regional Council spokesperson confirmed the vehicle involved was a Metlink bus, but said they could not provide further details as the matter was with police.
Earlier on Saturday, a motorcycle and a car collided at Waimangu, south of Rotorua.
One person was killed and another injured in the collision on SH38 at the intersection with Okaro Rd about 11am.
On Good Friday Tauranga local Kellie Jane Greer, 49, died from a two-car crash at an intersection of State Highway 30 and 32 near Whakamaru. Greer was the driver of one of the vehicles.
One of the vehicles caught fire after the crash at the intersection at midday.
On Thursday evening, a man was killed on SH2 at Mangatawhiri, 60km south of Auckland.
The victim was Kalam Safari Watkin-Mamode, 22, who lived at Mangatawhiri.
About 90 minutes earlier on Thursday, at 8pm, a person was killed in a crash involving a truck and a car on SH27 in the Waikato settlement of Kaihere.
Three others received moderate injuries in the crash.
In South Auckland this afternoon one person has been taken to Middlemore Hospital in critical condition after a single-car crash in Papakura.
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Emergency services responded to the crash on the intersection of Liverpool St and Settlement Rd around 2.30pm.
Motorists have been told to avoid the area.
The seven deaths mark a rise from the Easter road toll last year when no fatalities were recorded while the country was in level-4 lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19.
In 2019, the New Zealand Easter road toll was four.
