A woman who spent 14 hours alone with the wreckage of her car after she crashed down a bank had to set her car on fire to attract attention.

A mother who endured the Canterbury earthquakes and then lost her 12-year-old daughter in a horrific car crash will give a keynote talk about resilience later this month.

Police are investigating whether another vehicle was involved in the crash which flipped a rubbish truck, killing its driver.

One of Auckland's busiest motorways could be closed for hours after a fatal rush-hour crash. One truck driver died after the cab of the recycling or rubbish truck he was driving separated from the truck and "ended up on the opposite side" of the Southwestern motorway.

It was 5.30 in the morning when this truck crashed over a bank and became entangled in vegetation. Rescue workers are surprised the driver is still alive.

A 6-year-old boy died during a horror day on North Island roads yesterday.

A man is dead after his motorbike collided with a ten tonne truck last night.

Five tourists were injured when their Toyota Land Cruiser rolled down a bank in Otago yesterday.

A French family travelling near Mount Cook had to be rescued out the back of their upturned campervan after it flipped in strong winds.

A Maheno teenager is fighting for his life after being struck by a milk tanker near Maheno in Otago early yesterday.

An Auckland family are devastated at the death of a man who was struck by a car while lying on an unlit rural road early this morning.

A male pedestrian was hit by a truck and seriously injured on State Highway 1 in Otago last night.

The driver of a speeding car which caught fire at the end of a bizarre police chase had to turn himself in after dense bush and gorse proved too rough, a witness says.

A driver speeding at 150km/h dropped a hitch-hiker off on the side of the road before continuing to flee police until his car caught fire.

Commuters in and around Auckland are being urged to show patience as traffic is hindered by several gridlocks.

Two motorcyclists are injured after their vehicles crashed in Taranaki today.

The driver of a car was lucky to escape alive after colliding with a tree this morning.

Paralysed cyclist David Keys has resigned himself to the fact life as he knew it has ended, days after crashing his bike into a sinkhole in Waihi.

A person was shot several times by police in Waikato overnight after allegedly shooting at officers.

One person is dead after a car and Tauranga's mobile library bus crashed in Welcome Bay, as emergency services try to free another man still trapped.