A motorcyclist has been blown off the road as strong winds hinder traffic in the South Island this morning.

Seven people have been injured in a three-car collision in Auckland this afternoon.

The mother of two teenage sisters killed in a Christmas Day 2011 crash near Tauranga says she has forgiven the man responsible for their deaths.

It was a messy start to the long weekend for thousands of Aucklanders yesterday when a car crash closed part of the Southern Motorway, just before the official Queen's Birthday holiday period began.

Five people have died in crashes on the country's roads already this week, as police brace for Queen's Birthday weekend - a notorious period for road fatalities.

The driver of a vehicle that crashed near Tauranga on Christmas Day 2011, killing two children, has been sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.

A woman has been charged for driving drunk and causing the death of 17-year-old Shayna Kumitau in February.

The parts of the country which become more dangerous to travel through during Queen's Birthday weekend have been revealed in a police bid to cut the holiday road toll.

Police are urging motorists to drive to the conditions after three people died on New Zealand's roads within 11 hours in separate crashes.

British pop singer George Michael has been discharged from hospital after he was injured in a motorway car accident, a statement on his website says.

A second fatal collision between two trucks in just over a week has left a union official asking what more can be done to stop people dying.

Two trucks are blocking State Highway 4 in the central North Island following a crash this morning.

One man has died after a head-on crash between two trucks in the Bay of Islands this morning.

The pair accused of bashing and abducting a man before stealing his car in the Kaimai Range - an event linked to the death of a Tauranga teen - will remain behind bars.

A woman was trapped when the car she was in left the road and crashed into some trees in Hamilton this morning.

A car has crashed through the front door of a petrol station on Auckland's North Shore.

A police campaign to reduce the number of people killed in truck accidents was only a few hours old when a "shocking" head-on collision killed a log-truck driver.

A logging truck driver was killed and another seriously injured when their rigs collided head-on inland from Tolaga Bay on the East Coast this afternoon.

A man was killed and four others injured, one critically, when a car hit a power pole in Northland last night.

A Queenstown policeman says more tourists seem to be driving poorly and coming to the attention of police.

Shocked teenage students have been fainting this week when shown graphic crash images at an education event aimed to encourage road safety.