It was a grim weekend for several families around the country, after four people - including a 9-year-old boy - died in vehicle-related accidents.

A motorcyclist has died after a collision with a car in Mangatawhiri, south of Auckland, this afternoon.

The driver of a bulldozer jumped for his life yesterday afternoon when it tipped over and rolled down a bank in a forestry block on the Whakarau Road near Te Karaka.

A man has died in a car crash near Fairlie in Canterbury this morning.

A Scottish tourist was killed and his wife and daughter seriously injured in a car crash near Havelock North.

Road crashes do not discriminate. They claim the lives of children, the elderly, mothers-to-be, teenagers, tourists, drunks, speedsters and sometimes whole families.

The man who mentored a friend of the Maori King's son says the teenager's death in a Boxing Day crash in Raglan is devastating.

Responses that promise an immediate and apparently ready-made solution to a problem have a seductive appeal.

Tourism leaders are appealing for Kiwis not to come down too hard on overseas drivers as police investigate a crash which has left two French visitors seriously injured.

Three people were critically injured in two road crashes in the North Island last night.

The Kaimai Ranges road is closed following a head-on crash between a truck and van.

Police will continue their crackdown on speed and alcohol after a holiday period in which 17 people died on the country's roads.

A man who died in hospital nine days after being thrown from a ute in Raglan on Boxing Day has been named by police.

The police policy of targeting drivers as little as one kilometre an hour over the speed limit has been called ridiculous and ineffective. Is the Police 'zero tolerance' speed campaign working?

The death of a man in Christchurch overnight has brought the holiday road toll to 17 - more than double those of the last two years.

A logging truck driver suffered serious leg injuries when he fell from his truck this morning.

The holiday road toll has climbed to 16 after a passenger injured in a crash on Boxing Day died in hospital this morning.

Police say alcohol and speed are coming through as significant contributors to the holiday road.

With a hot sun gleaming off the water on Manukau Harbour, it seemed the perfect summer's day to go fishing, but the holiday fishing trip was to end in tragedy.

One of the men who died while crossing the Manukau Bar yesterday has been described as "an awesome husband, dad and grandad" by his family.

Three stricken boaties spent up to two hours treading water after their 5m vessel was swamped by a freak wave while crossing the treacherous Manukau Harbour bar, killing two other crew members.

A Chinese student who died in a Boxing Day smash in Southland has been named by police as the holiday road toll rises to seven.

A young Auckland man is facing charges after he allegedly drove through a stop sign and hit a police car, causing a pile-up that wrote off three vehicles in Gisborne.

Motorists have been urged to take extra care on the roads after a man died and three others were critically injured in a crash in the Bay of Plenty this morning.

An elderly couple remain in a serious condition in Tauranga Hospital, following a crash in the Bay of Plenty yesterday.

A man has died and two others have been seriously injured in the first fatal crash of New Zealand's Christmas and New Year road toll period.