Stevie Rangataua-Alexander is one of 11 people to have died on roads over the official holiday period. Photo / Facebook
An 18-year-old Aucklander who loved sport and kapa haka is the youngest victim of the holiday road toll.
Stevie Rangataua-Alexander is one of 12 people to have died on roads over the official holiday period, which started at 4pm on Christmas Eve and ends at 6am today.
The teen died on Sunday afternoon when the car she was in lost control and collided with another vehicle on State Highway 1 near Taupo.
Family and friends have paid tribute to the young woman, who grew up in Henderson and is a former student of Waitakere College.
Janica Rangihaeata-Rota wrote on Facebook: "My beautiful cousin ... This is devastating news for our family."
A friend told the Herald Stevie was known for her love of kapa haka, singing and playing the guitar.
"She was so beautiful and a quiet girl. She loved her sports, netball and makeup. She was really big about kapa haka, she loved her Maori heritage."
The teen had been working since finishing Year 13 in 2014.
Last year's holiday road toll was 15.
Police say a man involved in a crash at Whangamata on January 1 died last night from his injuries.
Two other accident victims died on Sunday. Monty Broughton, 68, of Taupo, died in hospital from leg and abdominal injuries received in a crash near Rotorua.
He was found about 4pm in a vehicle that had crashed into a ditch on SH33 between Okere Falls and Mourea as emergency services were heading to another crash, in which a car rolled with a baby inside.
Three others were in the vehicle with Mr Broughton, including his wife and friends.
Rotorua Senior Sergeant Malcolm Collins said the others had moderate injuries.
Bradley Charles Dobby, 20, from central Hawkes Bay, died in an incident involving a utility vehicle on SH2.
The deaths were "an incredibly unfortunate situation", said the national road policing manager, Superintendent Stephen Greally.
"We're at 11 compared to 15 at the same time last year, so that's a positive thing if we're going to get anything positive from it," he said.
"But at the end of the day, it's still 11 people who lost their lives on our roads, and 11 families who will have to live out the rest of their lives without their loved ones."
Most crashes came down to the same six things, he said, speed, alcohol, not wearing seat belts, fatigue, cellphone use and taking "stupid risks."
"Those are really easy things that we can do to bring the road toll right down. It's so simple, if you just follow some basic rules."
• Jan 4- A man involved in a crash at Whangamata on January 1 died from his injuries.
• Jan 3 - Monty Broughton, 68, of Taupo, died in Rotorua Hospital shortly after 11pm, from injuries suffered in a crash on State Highway 33 between Mourea and Okere Falls, east of Rotorua, earlier that day. Emergency services found a vehicle with the injured man and three others crashed into a ditch on their way to another crash.
• Jan 3 - Bradley Charles Dobby, 20, from Central Hawkes Bay, died following a serious crash involving a ute and a car on State Highway 2, just south of the Waipawa Bridge near Ongaonga Rd around 7.30pm. He was one of the drivers.
• Jan 3 - Stevie Rangataua-Alexander, 18, from Auckland, died following a two-vehicle crash on State Highway 1 near Wairakei, 20km from Taupo, about 1pm. She was the driver of one of the vehicles.
• Jan 1 - Benjamin Cecil Rhodes, 37, of Motueka, died and two people were injured when a light van crashed at 2am on the Riwaka side of the Motueka River Bridge in Nelson.
• Dec 31 - Shirley Avis Murcott, 77, of Oamaru, died a day after a single-vehicle crash near Maheno near Oamaru the previous morning.
• Dec 29 - A young man, believed to be aged in his 20s, died in a crash between a car and a truck shortly after noon at Bankside, near Rakaia in Canterbury.
• Dec 28 - Tauranga man Raymond Allen Valere Morreel, 65, died while motorcycling with family members on State Highway 28 in Te Poi.
• Dec 27 - John Edward Davie, 57, of Ranui, died in hospital following a bicycle crash with no other vehicles involved which happened around 2.30pm on Christmas Day on Swanson Rd, west Auckland.
• Dec 26 - Ngatokorua Tangimataiti, 80, and her 57-year-old daughter Are Tito died in a head-on crash south of Tokoroa. They were travelling on State Highway 1 after leaving a whanau gathering.
• Dec 25 - French tourist Remi Morilleau, 27, of Nantes, died in a three-car crash in Northland. It's believed his rental car crossed the centre line and collided with another vehicles. He had arrived in Auckland from Melbourne with his partner on Christmas Day.