Well-wishers have donated nearly $25k to help two girls whose mother was killed in a drink-drive smash, but the money is untouched because of a family row.

A woman almost killed when she was dragged 60m behind a vehicle in South Auckland was not the victim of a hit-and-run as first suspected.

A two-year-old boy has died in a farm accident inland from Gisborne after falling from a utility vehicle.

One person was seriously injured when a ute and a milk tanker crashed in the Bay of Plenty this morning.

A power cut in Upper Hutt tonight was caused by a car travelling at excessive speed and then crashing in Henry Street, police say.

A man who broke his back in three places in a car accident had to battle ACC three times over 12 years to get compensation and he's still waiting.

A 14-year-old boy who died after the 4-wheel-drive vehicle he was in rolled was one of four people killed in crashes over the weekend.

A schoolboy has suffered a horror eye injury after being splashed in the face with acid during a science experiment.

There's not much that's good about tumbling 5m down a blowhole and breaking your pelvis in three places.

A Search and Rescue team made a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to save a man who plunged 200m down an icy Mt Cook slope.

A lawyer has won a three-year battle against ACC, which claimed pain she suffered after a car crash was from degeneration and not a neck injury.

Five schoolgirl cyclists injured in a collision with a van north of Hamilton yesterday are at home recovering.

Five top schoolgirl cyclists and their coach, hurt when a car collided with them on a rural Waikato road, have now been discharged from hospital.

An elderly farmer who was run over by his own tractor is a "tough old coot" who is already back to his "cheeky self" after surgery, his family say.

A woman killed in a collision with a school bus in Taranaki yesterday was a young German national.

Terrified school children screamed and cried as their bus collided with a car, its windscreen shattered and it began to fill with smoke.

A photographer killed when he was struck by steam train may have thought the engine was further away because his perception had been skewed by his camera, a friend says.

It was truly miraculous that a series of accidents involving some 130 cars on a fog-shrouded bridge in Kent did not result in deaths, British police said.

As Father's Days go, Robyn Cameron cannot remember one more low-key, or more precious.