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A crash in which a man died near Taupo early on Saturday was New Zealand's only weekend road fatality but took the Taupo's region's toll this year to six.
Police said the crash happened when a car carrying two men collided with a truck at about 3am on State Highway 1 at Waitahanui.
The deceased man was 19-year-old New Zealand Army recruit Levi Jade Ricky Lapslie, from Christchurch.
Both men had to be cut from the wreckage and the surviving man was left with serious injuries. The driver of the truck was uninjured.
Two more people were killed in other crashes in Taupo and Rotorua on Friday afternoon, a couple of hours before the official weekend period began.
Robert Edward Bull, 22, from Rotorua, died after being thrown from the car he was driving at Owhata, near Rotorua, between 4 and 5pm.
Police said Mr Bull died at the scene after the car crashed on a bend and rolled. Three others in the vehicle were injured and police were still investigating.
Also on Friday afternoon, 22-year-old Auckland medical student Ana Djordjevic died when her car collided head-on with another vehicle on State Highway 5 southeast of Taupo. A woman in the other car was taken to hospital with moderate injuries.
The six deaths on Taupo roads for the year to date is higher than the region's road toll for all of last year, police said.
- NZPA
