A Dutch tourist has been charged after a crash in Canterbury that killed a mother and two young girls.

A woman whose vehicle was hit head-on by another travelling the wrong way on Auckland's southern motorway on Friday morning has died.

Three people were killed when a car careered into spectators at a road rally.

Three people have been killed in a crash near Rakaia. Details of the crash were still sketchy but Ashburton Police senior sergeant Scott Banfield confirmed three people had been killed and two injured. The crash occurred at the intersection of Thompsons Track and Somerton Road shortly before 4pm Saturday.

Police and Fire Services were called at 9am today to a fuel tanker overturned at Templeton in Canterbury.

The wife of a motorcyclist killed by a driver who fell asleep at the wheel says the woman is a coward for running from the scene.

One person has died after a crash on the Coromandel Peninsula tonight — the first fatality of the Queen’s Birthday weekend holiday road toll period.

Alcohol is believed to have played a role in a head-on crash early this morning, when a woman drove 5km the wrong way on the Southern Motorway.

The learner driver in a crash that killed a young Mosgiel brother and sister is alleged to have previously offered illegal taxi rides via a controversial Facebook page.

A pensioner who lay dead in a car next to his trapped and injured wife for 15 hours has been named as Alan Henry Skittrup, 94, of Taradale.

One person has died and two others are injured after a stolen car crashed in the Hutt Valley.

An 89-year-old woman who survived the impact of a car crash, spent 15 horrific hours trapped and injured beside her husband's body.

An elderly woman lay trapped and badly injured overnight next to her dead husband after their car left a driveway and rolled up to 30 metres down a steep bank.

Phoenix Ruddell keeps himself occupied with cartoons and smartphone apps while his little sister Faith works on her colouring-in book.

A motorcyclist has been taken to hospital with critical injuries after colliding with a car north of Auckland.

A 34-year-old Hawea man has died after the car he was driving flipped several times on Cemetery Road, Hawea Flat.

A truck driver’s head was held above water for by a passer by after his vehicle slid off a bridge into the Keyburn river in Central Otago.

A massive slip near Otira closed the Arthur's Pass highway just after midday today.

A woman has been taken to hospital with head injuries after being hit by a van in central Wellington this afternoon.

New Zealand has been praised at a global forum for slashing its road toll last year, after the ignomy of edging up an international hit parade of carnage in 2012.

Two people were killed this afternoon when a car was struck by a train on a rail crossing at Rotokohu, east of Reefton.

A woman has died after being struck by a reversing car whose driver wedged her jandal between the brake and accelerator, police say.

Two children seriously injured in a Bay of Plenty crash that killed their mother will today be released from Starship Hospital and will soon be heading home.

A serious crash near Auckland International Airport has caused major traffic delays during the Monday rush hour this morning.