Three fatal crashes 'human error' - police

Flowers at the spot near Lake Rotoma where Lydia Milbank was struck and killed. Photo/Adriana Weber

Police say human error was to blame in three fatalities on roads during the Labour weekend holiday.

The official holiday period ended at 6am today with a road toll of three, up on one death during the weekend last year.

National manager of road policing Superintendent Carey Griffiths said any loss of life was disappointing.

"Three people have lost their lives and that is not something I ever want to celebrate."

He said while all three incidents were very different, each was an example of people making human errors.

"Often the public see crashes in terms of really extreme behaviours, but the reality is that most of our crashes are people making mistakes in unforgiving systems.

"Kids running on to roads, people drifting over the centre line ... there are all sorts of things that happen because we are human.

"Everyone thinks it won't happen to them."

Yesterday's wet weather was a double-edged sword, he said, and may have helped with this year's low toll number.

"You get more crashes in wet weather, but when it is particularly bad people slow down as well."

Details on the number of injury crashes over the weekend were not yet available, as the information had not been collated by police.

The Labour Weekend holiday period began at 4pm on Friday and ended at 6am today.

Last year's toll of one was the lowest number of road deaths recorded over a Labour Day weekend since records began in 1956.

The previous lowest toll was two fatalities in 1977.

The highest recorded number was 16, which was recorded in 1978, the Ministry of Transport said.

Labour Weekend fatalities

- 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. The car was being driven by his son, 16-year-old Richard Davies.

- 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 State Highway 1 at Lichfield about 1.50pm. Police are investigating the cause of the crash.

- Lydia Milbank, 9, of Matata, was fatally struck by a motorbike on State Highway 30 at Lake Rotoma about 7.50pm on Sunday. She was flown to Rotorua Hospital in a critical condition and later died. The police serious crash unit are investigating the crash.