Holiday road toll stands at seven

The holiday road toll still stands at seven today but could rise further after a car crashed off a bridge in Westland yesterday.

The search for the car, which crashed off into the Wanganui River near Hari Hari yesterday afternoon has been postponed due to bad weather today.

Police are holding a briefing today which may shed more light on the crash and the search.

A rental car believed to have been travelling south at speed crashed off the bridge and went into the river six metres below.

Its occupants, understood to be up to four people, were not found after an extensive river search last night.

But searchers believed they had found the car, possibly a red Toyota, snagged in the river late yesterday, wedged under a stump under the bridge.

At least 294 people have died in car crashes so far this year, up from 254 last year. There have been 269 confirmed fatal crashed this year, compared to 238 last year.

The long-term trend remains downward for deaths on the road, but it was tragic to see more people killed in 2014 than the previous year, said Automobile Association spokesman Dylan Thomsen.

"The big difference between this year and last year is there have been more passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists killed in crashes," Mr Thomsen said.

Yesterday, police named the 22 year-old victim of a Boxing Day crash in Southland. She was Chinese student Pengxiao Tao, known as Jessica.

Ms Tao died after a campervan and car collided on the Athol Five Rivers Highway.

A 43-year-old German man has pleaded guilty to charges over the crash.

Other fatal crashes this holiday season included:

-- On Boxing Day, Kevin Keane of Timaru died after the rental car he was driving apparently crossed the centreline and collided with another car in the Bay of Plenty, injuring an elderly couple.

-- On Saturday, Jamie Shane Webb, 25, was electrocuted after a car crashed into a power pole on a rural road in Glentui, Canterbury.

-- On Sunday, two people died following a collision between a car and milk tanker in the Bay of Plenty. The truck and a Volkswagen Golf collided near Paengaroa, at the intersection of State Highway 2 and Wilson Rd, leaving four people trapped in the car.

-- On Sunday, a 56-year-old motorcyclist died following a crash near Hurunui on Sunday morning. The man was riding a Harley Davidson on State Highway 7, between Culverden and Hanmer Springs, when his machine and a car collided just before 11am. He was flown to Christchurch Hospital by the Westpac Rescue helicopter but died shortly afterwards.

-- On Monday, a 61-year-old woman was killed when a car and a truck collided on State Highway 1 at Greta Valley in Canterbury.

Four other people, including a 5-year-old boy, escaped injury when the car the woman was driving apparently crossed the centreline and into the path of the oncoming truck, police said.

The official holiday road period started at 4pm on Christmas Eve, and runs until 6am on Monday, January 5.

Last year's Christmas-New Year road toll was seven, but the official holiday period was three days shorter.