The holiday road toll has risen to 18 after a person died in a motorcycle crash this afternoon.
Emergency services were called to Tainui Rd in Tauhei, 35km northeast of Hamilton, about 2.10pm after people saw a motorcyclist come off their motorbike while going around a corner, police said.
“Despite first responders’ efforts, the person died at the scene. The road remains closed while the Serious Crash Unit investigates.”
The death is the second on our roads today, after a person died when their car hit a power pole and then crashed into the water on State Highway 25 near Russek Rd, south of Keretā on Coromandel Peninsula.
A section of the highway was closed for several hours after police were called just before 3.30am, but had since reopened.
The new year also began tragically east of Rotorua yesterday afternoon, when a person died and two others received minor injuries in a crash on SH30 near Lake Okataina.
Authorities have also begun naming some of those killed since the holiday toll period began at 4pm on December 22. It officially ends at 6am tomorrow.
Pāpāmoa man Brayden Tawa, 27, Hamilton woman Louise Quinn, and Aucklander Wenxuan Li, 22, are among those killed on our roads this holiday period.
Tawa died in a crash between a car and a truck at the intersection of Aerodrome Rd and Hewletts Rd/State Highway 2, Mount Maunganui, on December 27.
He was the front-seat passenger in the car, with the driver and a back-seat passenger surviving with minor injuries, along with the driver of the truck. Police are investigating.
Quinn was found dead after falling off a quad bike on Rauparaha St in Marokopa, which the Herald understands is her holiday home in rural Waikato.
“For those that may not know, Louise died in a tragic accident, at her holiday home in Marokopa,” a family member said in a tribute.
“I don’t think I need to go into details, however, my belief is it was quick and she was free of pain within seconds.”
Her funeral was to take place today, after family from Ireland arrived in New Zealand.
“Lou, you have been taken from us too soon and will be greatly missed by everyone. Rest in peace,” Rhian Geenty posted.
Aucklander Li died after a serious crash at Whakamaru two days before Christmas. Inquiries into the circumstances are continuing, police said.
Two young cousins were killed in the Far North on December 29 after a UTV (utility-terrain vehicle) went into the swollen Waikāinga Stream during an outing on their grandmother’s farm.
Four others managed to get out of the water but the bodies of a 4-year-old from Auckland and 6-year-old from Perth were later recovered.
Two separate car crashes in Christchurch and Te Puru in the lead-up to New Year’s Eve also took lives.
Two people died in a crash between two cars and a motorbike in Tunnel Rd in Christchurch shortly before midnight on Saturday.
Two others suffered critical injuries and one other person was seriously injured, police said.
And a person was killed when a car crashed into water in Te Puru in Coromandel about 8.45pm on Saturday. A second person in the car suffered serious injuries.
On December 28, two people died as a result of a crash between a car and a petrol tanker west of the Kaimāī Summit.
Other fatal crashes this holiday period include a person dying in a crash in Prebbleton southwest of Christchurch on Boxing Day.
One person died after a single-vehicle crash on SH77 near Ashburton on Christmas morning. Another person died after fleeing a police checkpoint in Whangārei.
Last year, the Christmas-New Year road toll was 21.
According to the Ministry of Transport’s latest data, the provisional road death toll for 2023 was 343. It was 372 in 2022.
While it was worth noting the reduction in overall deaths, there were “still too many people who didn’t get to spend the festive season with loved ones”, police said.
“Speed, alcohol and drugs, and distraction are still the main causes of death and serious injury. Wearing your seatbelt can also be the difference between surviving a crash and not.”
Roads continued to be busier than usual during the holiday season as people travelled around the country.
“Please be patient, plan your trips, drive sober and pull over if you are feeling tired.”
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.