The Associate Minister of Transport says the number of deaths on the road is heartbreaking after nine people were killed in three crashes today.
Julie Anne Genter said the level of death and injury on our roads was not something we should accept.
"Over the weekend, and again today, we've been reminded why any fatality is a tragedy. Families, and whole communities are in shock and I know there'll be much grief and sadness," Genter said.
Police are urging drivers to take extra care on the roads - to drive to the conditions, wear seatbelts, don't drive tired or after drinking, or taking drugs.
NZ Transport Agency director of safety and environment Harry Wilson said with the Easter holiday period approaching, everyone needed to remember plan ahead, take regular breaks, and stay safe on our roads.
"Every road tragedy has a ripple effect out into our communities, our workplaces and of course within families," Wilson said.
Nine people are dead after three separate crashes this morning, including five family members who died when their car slammed into a tree south of Kinleith.
In a second horrific incident hours later three people died in a collision in Ashburton.
A ninth person died after their car crashed into water near Auckland Airport early this morning. The vehicle left the road and crashed into water near the intersection of Tom Pearce Dr and Puhinui Rd at about 1.15am today.
Five more people died in crashes at the weekend.
Meanwhile five members of the same family have been confirmed dead after a car slammed into a gum tree south of Kinleith at 7.40am today.
An 11-year-old boy survived but has serious injuries.
Police confirmed five people died in the single vehicle crash as the car travelled west on Tirohanga Rd at 7.40am.
They were all members of one family, Senior Sergeant Fane Troy confirmed. A teenager was among the dead.
Some of the car's occupants were not wearing seatbelts and "this has contributed to the deaths", Troy said.
Three women had died in the crash and two men. They were a local family.
"Our hearts go out to the family, these are the ones this will hurt the most," Troy said.
Firefighters had to remove two bodies to free a sixth person from the wreckage. The sole survivor, a boy aged 11, is in Waikato Hospital with serious injuries.
The Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter and the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter attended the crash.
A woman who lives near the crash scene was on her way to take her children to school when she saw the vehicle had smashed into a tree.
After seeing the wreckage she turned around and drove back to check on the occupants.
"It wasn't nice, it wasn't nice at all."
She was still in shock as to what she'd seen but said there were six people in one car, a Ford Falcon.
Conditions at the time were dry and the crash happened on a relatively straight stretch of Tirohanga Rd, she said.
A woman who lives about 300 metres from the crash scene said she was waiting at the end of her driveway for the school bus with her 6-year-old son when her friend phoned to say there had been an accident.
The woman said she had noticed the traffic coming from State Highway 1 had slowed and realised the crash must have happened near her home.
"Then I heard the choppers and police come past," she said.
"The roads have been closed right outside our house."
The woman said she phoned the school to alert them of the accident and was told the bus could not get through the cordon.
"But my son still wanted to go to school so he jumped the fence and went to school in the neighbour's ute with his friend," she said.
"She can get on to the road from her driveway so they drove through their farm and out the driveway."
The woman did not believe the road was dangerous to travel.
"I wouldn't say it is a dangerous road," she said.
"We do hear car accidents out here but there hasn't been a serious one for quite a while.
"But it is always a worry when it is right outside your doorstep."
Tirohanga Rd resident Jo Bell said she heard a siren just before 8am when she dropped her daughter off at the bus stop.
She used the road daily and said while she had not seen the crash, people needed to be cautious - especially in the wet.
"There are sections that are quite narrow and dangerous... it can get quite slippery," she said.
The narrow sections were hazardous with the range of vehicles that used it, including large trucks and tractors.
She said there needed to be more signage to warn people of the common slower and larger vehicles which used the roads, especially for those who did not use the road often.
There had been a second "incident" near the crash scene but a FENZ spokesman said he did not believe anyone had been injured in the second crash. Police later confirmed a stationary police car was involved in the non-injury crash.
UPDATE: Five people have been confirmed dead. - More than one person has died in a single-vehicle crash in Taupo...
Posted by Bay of Plenty & Taupo Police on Sunday, 31 March 2019
Motorists are being asked to avoid the area.
Country Kidz early childhood centre is on the corner of Forest Rd and Tirohanga Rd.
Manager Sandra Evans said most families had to follow the road diversion to get to the centre this morning.
"It just took a bit longer than usual. We have not been directly affected. The kids are fairly unaware of what's happened."
This morning's fatal crash site is just a 10-minute drive from where a man died in a two-truck crash on State Highway 1 on Friday morning.
The crash occurred at around 8.35am, and the road was closed until 6.45pm.
Debris was strewn 100m along the road.
A woman who answered the phone at Tirohanga School said many of their pupils were late this morning.
"The bus couldn't get through. It could only get as far as Paerata Rd I think," she said.
"But we have got most of our children at school now."
The woman said Okama Rd was about five or six minutes from the primary school, which had a roll of 37 children.
A number of parents had phoned the school to let them know there had been a crash and their children would be late, she said.
Meanwhile three people are dead after a crash at the intersection of Mitcham Rd and Hepburns Rd in Ashburton.
A fourth person has critical injuries, police said.
The two-car crash occurred just after 10am.
"The roads around the crash site remain closed and motorists are asked to take alternative routes where possible."
Today's eight deaths follow five road fatalities at the weekend.
A motorcyclist died following a crash in Brightwater, Tasman about 3.20pm yesterday.
A mother and child were killed after a crash on State Highway 1 near Kaipara at 8.50pm on Sunday. Two others, one a child, were taken to hospital in serious conditions.
Another two people were also killed in a crash in Hawera about 8.25pm on Saturday.
As of yesterday, 92 people had been killed on the country's roads so far this year, according to Ministry of Transport data.
That was less than the 104 people killed in the same period last year and about equal with 2017 when 91 people were killed in the first three months.