A year after the Turangi crash that killed three US students, its most scarred survivor remains determined to return to thank those who saved her life.

Mandatory wearing of high-visibility clothing for cyclists would not reduce the death toll, an expert told a coroner today.

Police have named a Timaru man who was crushed to death by his car while trying to remove the oil filter.

A 27-year-old woman is fighting for her life in Christchurch Hospital after falling from a moving vehicle early this morning.

A man has been hospitalised with suspected spinal injuries after rolling his vehicle when swerving to avoid a dog.

A Herald analysis of Transport Agency data collected from 67 districts has revealed the deadliest parts of the country in terms of personal risk to road users.

Charlotte Christie fears driving along the winding Gisborne-to-Wairoa road after writing off her car in a pile-up on a blind bend in which another motorist lost an arm.

A truck and trailer rolled in Waikato overnight but the driver was not injured.

The mother of a 12-year-old boy hit by a car as he walked home from school is being chased for damages by the driver's insurance company.

Allan Hubbard died in a head-on car crash caused by his elderly wife, not by the other driver accused of careless driving causing his death, a court has been told.

A Kawakawa man is lucky to be alive after a spectacular crash in which his ute shot off a bridge, Dukes of Hazzard style, and landed on the far side of a river.

For the first time since records began there has not been a single road death during the Queen's Birthday weekend, and police say it is a "very positive" result.

Police were tonight hoping for the first-ever Queen's Birthday weekend without a single road death.

Police are urging motorists to drive to the conditions after a fatality-free start to Queen's Birthday Weekend.

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.

Maori elders blessed the scene of a fatal car crash in South Wairarapa this morning where the body of the 17-year-old crash victim lay covered on the road.

Industry groups accept more needs to be done to improve trucking safety after two fatal crashes in the 8 days since a campaign was launched to reduce fatal accidents.

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.