Police are on the lookout for a man who posed as a Pike River miner to steal from a family who befriended him on Christmas Eve.

He was playing a game that will be familiar to many from childhood. But when Sam Goodenough's turn came to try to hold his breath the longest underwater, the game turned to tragedy, when the16-year-old blacked out and failed to surface.

The woman who was discovered seriously injured in Christchurch early today says she believes she was intentionally mown down by a driver.

Families of the 29 men killed in the Pike River Coal mine tragedy have publicly thanked everyone involved in the rescue and recovery operation.

Roads and vehicles must be "more forgiving" to curb a road toll which averages more than one death a day, the AA says. Figures released by the Ministry of Transport today show 371 people died on the roads over the past year.

Temperatures inside the Pike River Coal mine continue to fluctuate, frustrating those charged with retrieving the bodies of 29 men killed in a series of explosions since November 19.

The death of a 15-year-old driver who fled from police this morning was 'completely avoidable', say police. Timoti Mohi was driving a stolen car when he failed to stop for police and drove off at speeds of up to 180km/h.

A post-mortem on teenager Cem Erbay, who went missing in the Coromandel early on New Year's Day, has found his death was not suspicious and he most likely died as a result of a fall.

Campers at a coastal campground north of Auckland are in shock after a teenager was thrown out of a car as it plunged 25 metres down a cliff at the campground early this morning.

Alcohol and speed contributed to more than half the 13 deaths on New Zealand roads over the holiday period.

The holiday road toll stands at 13, the same as last year, following two fatal crashes in Auckland overnight.

A post-mortem examination of Cem Erbay will be carried out today, say police.

A nine-year-old Auckland boy survived going over a 20m waterfall in Queensland.