The woman who died alongside All Black great Jerry Collins in a horror crash that left their baby daughter fighting for her life never planned to be a mum.

Richie McCaw has paid tribute to his former loose forward partner Jerry Collins, saying he was a loyal and intelligent team-mate with an awe-inspiring physical presence.

A person is dead and another seriously injured after a crash in south Canterbury this afternoon.

A Mainfreight truck has been left on the edge of a 15-metre cliff following an accident.

The health of Jerry Collins' baby daughter is improving as she fights for her life in hospital following the French car crash that killed her mother and father.

In a game full of hard men, Jerry Collins, the kid from Porirua, stood out head and shoulders - and 58cm biceps - above them all.

The passenger of a car that crashed in Feilding yesterday has died in hospital.

Children among four people hurt after truck rolls in the Bay of Plenty, with one of the four critically injured.

A car that struck a power pole cut electricity to 600 homes in Auckland this morning.

A person has been taken to hospital after being hit by a bus in central Auckland tonight.

An elderly woman has died after being hit by a van in Orewa this afternoon.

Auckland police have named the pedestrian killed after being hit by a truck in the central city last night.

An empty school bus and car collided on a corner trapping the driver of the car and blocking a Northland road this morning.

A reduced Queen's Birthday weekend road toll is still not good enough, say police.

A man has been killed by a falling tree in Northland as ferocious thunder storms and lightning strikes bore down on Auckland and the upper North Island.

The pedestrian who was hit by a truck on Fanshaw St in Auckland tonight has died.

A learner driver who killed two Mosgiel siblings - including his then girlfriend - has robbed a mother of seeing what her children would become, he was told this morning.

The country’s top road cop is lamenting the deaths of five people over the Queen’s Birthday holiday weekend, including a 5-year-old boy who died in hospital yesterday.

The Queen's Birthday holiday road toll stands at a minimum of three this evening, with potentially a further fatality, following a number of crashes over the weekend.

On the final day of the long weekend, motorists are being urged to prepare for their journeys home.

The woman who died after trying to do a U-turn on a Bay of Plenty road yesterday has been named.

Brent Gallagher thought he was a goner as he lay on the ground with serious injuries and a raging bull called Pistol Whip bearing down on him.

One person died and eight were injured on the roads in a chaotic start to the holiday weekend.

A toddler critically injured when he ran into the path of a car on Auckland's Mt Eden Rd had his third birthday this week in a rehab centre.

A bus passenger and a driver of a car were injured in a serious crash in East Auckland on Saturday afternoon.

A woman died after trying to do a U-turn when a logging truck struck her vehicle outside of Te Puke this morning, police say.

"I don't feel like he's gone forever because he's just gone for a trip and he's going to be back" says wife of man who died during duck hunting trip.

Daejon Pahia was walking to school with his 8-year-old sister when a 4X4 hit him as he crossed Manuroa Rd near Takanini School on May 15.

The 9-year-old boy injured in a mysterious incident at Taradale Primary School was reportedly trying to escape from a toilet.

A 63-year-old man is in Waikato Hospital with serious head injuries after falling down a bank in Taupo last night.