First holiday road death

A man was killed after he was flung from a car in the Waikato early this morning, in what was the first fatal accident of the official holiday road toll period.

The car left the road and rolled down a bank on State Highway 1 between Ngaruawahia and Taupiri at about 1.20am, police said.

The car's sole occupant, believed to be in his 30s, was found thrown from the vehicle in a critical condition when emergency services arrived.

He was taken to Waikato Hospital where he died about two hours later.

Diversions were put in place and police did not immediately know when the road would be reopened.

The official holiday road toll period began at 4pm yesterday and runs until 6am on January 5.

Four people lost their lives in accidents yesterday before the official road toll period began.

A man in his 50s was killed in a crash near Huntly yesterday afternoon at about the same time as two people were killed when a 4WD vehicle crashed into a power pole on the remote East Cape.

One person died earlier in a crash near Napier on the expressway to Hastings.

At 377, the road toll is already 12 higher than last year's toll.

Holiday road toll (4pm December 24th - 6am January 5th)

- NZPA