Labour Weekend road toll stands at three

The scene of the fatal accident. Photo / Bay Trust Rescue Helicopter

A 10-year-old girl may have dashed in to the road to return to a lakeside holiday home near Rotorua when she was fatally struck by a motorcycle.

The child, the third road fatality this Labour Weekend, was hit on State Highway 30 at Lake Rotoma about 7.50pm yesterday. She was flown to Rotorua Hospital in a critical condition and later died.

Locals in the lakeside town said the girl had been kayaking on the lake with her family and had run across the highway, which separates the lake from a cluster of holiday homes.

National road policing manager Superintendent Carey Griffiths said police were still investigating the incident.

"All I know is they were at Lake Rotoma and she's entered onto the roadway and been struck by the bike."

Police at the scene had spoken to the rider, Mr Griffiths said.

"Early indications are it doesn't look like there's any fault on the part of the rider, but they've got work to do there."

Locals in Lake Rotoma, 40km east of Rotorua, said it was a popular holiday destination with many baches around the lake.

It was believed the family of the girl were from Whakatane.

The Labour Weekend holiday road toll of three is triple that of last year.

A 75-year-old Tokoroa woman died on Saturday after her car crossed a centre line and collided head-on with a truck.

The crash happened on SH1 at Lichfield around 1.50pm. Police were investigating the cause of the crash.

Keith Davies, 54, died after a crash at Dairy Flat, north of Auckland, less than an hour after the start of the official holiday period.

He was a passenger in a car that collided with a truck at the corner of Horseshoe Bush Rd and Dairy Flat Highway about 4.30pm on Friday. His teenage son Richard was at the wheel.

One person was killed on the roads last Labour Day weekend, 2013, police said.

This was the lowest number of road deaths recorded over a Labour Day weekend since records began.

There were, however, 83 reported injury crashes which left 20 other people with serious injuries, police said.

The official Labour Weekend holiday period began at 4pm on Friday and ends at 6am tomorrow.