A motorcycle crash on the Auckland Harbour Bridge caused northbound traffic to grind to a halt this afternoon.

A man accused of murdering a woman by deliberately swerving into her car said he "might as well" kill himself, a court had been told.

Two occupants of a plane which crashed near Ohakune this morning have survived unscathed.

A man has admitted killing his two friends when he sped away from police and crashed into two power poles.

Police say they are "devastated" by the Labour Weekend road toll, which closed at eight - the same number as last year.

A widow wants pilots to stay away from a helicopter involved in 30 crashes in six years in which nine people have died, including two this month.

Fellow hunters have expressed "disgust" at the actions of a man who shot dead a woman after he mistook her for a animal.

The principal of a tiny school in the Hutt Valley faces the heart-breaking task of telling pupils a popular teacher was shot dead at the weekend by a hunter stalking deer at night.

Six people have died in five separate Labour Weekend accidents in Wanganui, Southland, Canterbury, Hawke's Bay and the Waikato.

A midday crash in Southland has resulted in one fatality, bringing the holiday road toll to two after a fatal crash in Hawkes Bay.

A Hamilton man will appear on court on a firearm charge after the death of a woman near Taupo last night.

As holiday-makers head out of Auckland for the long weekend, traffic has already begun to pile up following a crash north of the city.