Easter road toll ends: four dead

Photo / File

Four people died on the roads over Easter.

One person was killed in Methven, Canterbury, when their car hit a tree on Friday.

The same day, a vehicle carrying seven people went over a bank in Central Otago. A woman was killed in the accident and the other six were taken to hospital.

On Friday night, 21-year-old Tristan Hunter died when he collided with a car as he was longboarding down Maungakotukutuku Road, near Paraparaumu.

Yesterday, a person died in the central North Island in a crash in Mangaweka that closed the State Highway.

Police are yet to release details of the person killed, including their gender and age. They died at the scene.

Police headquarters said the toll is provisional, because it depends on whether all those who were injured in crashes over Easter recover.

The official Easter holiday period began at 4pm on Thursday and ended today at 6am.

Last year, one person was killed in a car accident over Easter. They had been a passenger in the vehicle.

Despite the one fatality, there were 101 reported injury crashes, according to figures released by the Ministry of Transport. A total of 29 people were seriously injured and there were 114 minor injuries the same time last year.

In recent years, the road toll has seen single-digit figures, except in 2010, when 12 people were killed on New Zealand roads.

The highest number of people killed on the roads during the Easter period, since 1980, stands at 17 in 1990.