Hawke's Bay's single road fatality over the holiday period is "one too many", police say.
The official holiday period began at 4pm on Friday, December 22, 2017 and ended at 6am on Wednesday. There were 12 road deaths during this period - one for each day of the official Christmas-New Year holiday period.
The only Hawke's Bay fatal crash was early on Christmas Eve, when Waipukurau man Harry Nepe-Apatu, 65, died in Central Hawke's Bay.
He was a passenger in a vehicle that went down a bank on Pourerere Rd around 5.30am. The driver received minor injuries.
In total the 12 holiday deaths included eight drivers, three passengers, and one motorcyclist. Despite the grim toll it's an improvement on last year when 19 people died.