Labour weekend road toll: No deaths on roads over holiday period amid wild weather across country

New Zealand has recorded its lowest Labour weekend road toll in over 10 years, with no deaths over the holiday period. Photo / Alex Burton

New Zealand has recorded its lowest Labour weekend road toll in over 10 years, with no deaths over the holiday period.

It is the lowest death toll for the public holiday since 2013, when one person died and 109 were injured.

The worst road toll for Labour weekend was in 1983, where 13 people died and 248 were injured, RNZ reported.

The official holiday road toll period began at 4pm on Friday and ended at 6am this morning.

The Herald reported at least three crashes from throughout the long weekend: One in Transmission Gully just out of Wellington on Monday; a serious two-car crash in Helensville on Monday morning; and a bus with 26 passengers sliding off the road near Mt Cook on Saturday.

Six people died on the roads during the holiday last year.

The director of road policing, Superintendent Steve Greally, earlier reiterated there was “no room for complacency” and said police were “determined not to see a repeat” of last Labour weekend’s road toll.

Greally said staff would be working “tirelessly throughout the country” to make sure everyone stays safe.

“Those who blatantly choose to drive dangerously, whether it’s driving without a seatbelt or impaired by drugs and alcohol, using a mobile phone or speeding, they can expect to be ticketed.”

Much of the country experienced its share of “dramatic weather” at the weekend, with the West Coast being worst hit region.

Residents made self-evacuations amid weather warnings as drivers encountered flooded roads.

West Coast Emergency Management group manager Claire Brown said there was a lot of surface flooding in and around the communities, with a small number of local and state highway road closures.

“There have been a couple of precautionary self-evacuations, but hopefully by this evening they will all be able to return home if it is safe to do so.”

MetService forecaster Luis Fernandes said another low system would move in from the Tasman Sea which would mean wetter weather spreading across the country from today.

“The day might start relatively dry, but especially for the western parts of the country, things get wetter as the day progresses.”

Thursday is the only day for which MetService has forecast fine conditions in Auckland.

Fernandes said that while wet weather was likely to plague much of New Zealand for the rest of the week, temperatures would begin to slowly warm.

“The South Island will see temperatures bouncing back into the mid to high teens as the week goes on.

“The North Island would see temperatures climbing but remaining more or less static for a couple of days.

“Mid to high teens for most areas through to Wednesday, and for Thursday we see temperatures for most of the North Island improving to high teens and low 20s for most places.”

Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.