Police are urging holiday motorists to slow down following the second serious speed-related crash in Waikato in as many days.

An out of control car turned off a straight road, drove down some brick steps, through a barrier and into a Havelock North hairdressing salon.

A taxi driver feels lucky to have escaped death after his car was swept away by the swollen Silver Stream near Dunedin.

Two people have been seriously injured in two separate crashes in Auckland early today.

A drunk driver who fled the scene of an early morning crash in Waikato could be seriously injured and police are "seriously concerned" about his whereabouts.

Police are calling on motorists to take extra care over the holiday period, following a weekend that saw two people killed, several seriously injured, and two others rescued from a car hanging in a tree.

Two people had to be rescued from a vehicle that was left hanging sideways from a tree down a sheer bank after it crashed off a rural Coromandel road yesterday afternoon.

Two people were seriously injured when a car rolled on Masters Road in Waiuku last night. Three fire appliances attended the crash.

A woman in her 80s is recovering from serious injuries after being hit by a car as she crossed a road in Auckland yesterday.

Christchurch police have released the name of the skateboarder killed in an accident in Loburn, north of Rangiora, last night.

A motorcyclist died following a collision with a car on the Rimutaka Hill Rd near Featherston around yesterday.

The family of a woman who died in a crash on the West Coast on Monday don't know how to tell her youngest children their mum won't be coming home for Christmas.

A toddler involved in a crash which killed his mother and brother yesterday could also have been killed, had it not been for the heroic actions of members of the public, police say.

A young Tongan family who moved to the West Coast for the promise of a better life have been torn apart just days before Christmas.

A police official says at least 21 people were killed and 20 others were injured when a bus plunged from an elevated highway and onto a van in Manila.

An Auckland man has suffered a broken leg following a hit-and-run incident in West Auckland this morning.

Five people have been taken to hospital after a car crashed into a bar in south Auckland in the early hours of this morning.

The man killed in an early morning crash near Te Poi in Waikato on Wednesday was Grant Scott Gilmer of Tauranga, police say.

A hangover is as dangerous for drivers as being drunk at the wheel, a study suggests.

A man is in critical condition after his car hit a power pole and rolled on the outskirts of Wairoa yesterday.

Forensic scientists have made "some progress" towards identifying the object which struck and killed motorist Rutger Hale near Lake Hawea seven weeks ago, police say.

Live power lines and a large number of agitated bees are posing problems for motorists and emergency services following a fatal crash in Waikato this morning.

Drivers who crash on open roads during the Christmas and New Year holidays are more likely to be injured than at other times of the year.