KEY POINTS:
Police have named a motorcyclist found dead outside Queenstown on Thursday.
Peter Lockett, 48, from Kingston, was reported missing on December 31 and was believed to have been last seen on Tuesday.
He was found with his motorbike down a bank off SH 6, between Frankton and Kingston, having apparently ridden off the road.
His death will be referred to the coroner.
The holiday road toll, which ends at 6am Monday, stands at 17.
In addition to Mr Lockett, five other people have died in the first three days of this year.
Two people died on the roads yesterday and are yet to be named.
A truck driver died when his tanker, believed to be carrying whey, crashed about 7.25pm at Reporoa, 42km southeast of Rotorua.
About an hour later, one person trapped after a three-vehicle crash on State Highway 2 at Whakamarama, 22km southwest of Tauranga, died at the scene, police said.
A 50-year-old Swedish tourist, Goran Oskarsson, was killed about 10.15am on January 1 when the campervan he was driving crashed at the intersection of state highways 47 and 48, near National Park Village.
Raymond Douglas Brown, 33, was hit by a northbound car in the town centre while walking along the middle of State Highway 57, Levin about 1.30am on January 1.
And the same day a 51-year-old Balclutha man died after he failed to negotiate a moderate right hand bend 27km southwest of Balclutha.
Last year's toll was 18 dead and 65 seriously injured from 16 crashes.
- NZPA
