High fuel prices may have led to a quieter holiday weekend on the roads, with many opting to stay home.
Police noted there was less traffic on the roads and the AA said motorists were being "cautious" when planning holidays.
There were also reports that the lower death
toll on the roads may been a knock-on effect for high fuel prices, but police said that was speculation.
Three people died on the roads this Queen's Birthday weekend, compared with five last year.
Police road policing manager Carey Griffiths said there are no statistics available and a range of factors could have contributed to the low road toll.
"There's a range of reasons, and reasons can include fuel prices and people just following the rules. You can just speculate and speculate over the cause," Mr Griffiths said.
Automobile Association spokesman Mike Noon said: "We do think motorists are being quite cautious over the weekend and people will be thinking twice before they embark on a longer journey."
He said the AA encourages people to get out and see the country but "maybe go somewhere closer, rather than driving from one end of the country to another".
Mr Noon said when Hurricane Katrina hit the US, disrupting oil refineries and driving up the cost of petrol, the AA noticed motorists pulling back on travel.
He said the weather would also have had an impact and rising commodity prices could also have affected people's travel plans.
Hospitality Association of New Zealand chief executive Bruce Robertson said there are no statistics yet available on the weekend's accommodation occupancy rates and there are many factors that play a part.
"If you want to generalise, it's basically business as usual but people are feeling the squeeze in terms of the discretionary dollar, so the market is tightening up. But the holiday resorts were still busy, so it's hard to pin down," Mr Robertson said.
He said domestic tourism has been strong as people look to travel around New Zealand, rather than go for an expensive overseas trip.
"It's really hard to generalise what the tightness of the discretionary dollar is doing," Mr Robertson said.
