Part of Auckland's Southern Motorway northbound is down to one lane after a van rolled this evening.

In the aftermath of a violent head-on smash, with her youngest child screaming for "mummy", Debbie Bell looked at her legs and knew she was in trouble.

Eight men have been injured, two critically, in a collision between a van and a logging truck in Hawkes Bay.

Fifty-one workers were killed while they were doing their jobs last year, the Council of Trade Unions says.

A 19-year-old has died after the car he was in, which was carrying four others, crashed south of Dunedin early today.

A young mother-of-four who "lived every day for her babies" was yesterday farewelled in a moving, tear-filled ceremony after she was killed on a notorious stretch of highway.

A man who died after the ute he was driving in rural North Canterbury rolled and crushed him yesterday morning has been named.

A father saw his daughters' faces flash before him as he risked his life, diving into the surf to save two girls caught in a rip at a Hawkes Bay beach yesterday.

Three lives have been claimed on the Riversdale-Waikaia Road in Southland late last night, according to police.

The privacy waiver form used by ACC for 1.7 million claims a year is unlawful, a lawyer says.

A 56-year-old Tuatapere man has been charged in connection with a fatal hunting shooting in Southland earlier this month.

Lowering the alcohol purchase age has been linked to a long-term increase in the chance of drunk drivers aged 18 or 19 being involved in car crashes that cause death or injury.

A 4-year-old boy is in hospital with serious injuries after being involved in a quad bike accident this afternoon.

Wanaka firm Adventure Consultants has cancelled its 2014 Everest expedition following Friday's fatal avalanche.

Police are warning drivers to pay attention on rural roads after a head-on collision near Paeroa yesterday morning.

A 5-year-old boy has died in a driveway incident in Pokeno this afternoon, the second fatal incident involving a child in Counties Manukau District in only two weeks.

Police investigating a fatal west Auckland car crash are looking into whether one car cutting off another began a deadly chain of events.

A mother whose car left the road and plunged 15m into a river in the Bay of Plenty on Wednesday was still seriously ill yesterday.

Four Kiwis were among a climbing group on Mt Everest when a deadly avalanche struck on Friday, killing at least 12 Nepalese advance party guides and leaving four others missing.

A woman has described her dramatic escape from her submerged car after it was swept off the road by raging floodwaters.

An elderly man who died after crashing his car into a tree in Auckland two days ago has been identified as Robert Nikora, 74, of Papatoetoe.

The husband of a woman killed in a four-car crash begged her to wake up and get off the road as their young son screamed in agony

As the battle to free 290 from a sunken ferry in South Korea continues, it's emerged texts purported to be sent from trapped children were a hoax.