The Westpac Rescue helicopter is on the way to pick up a seriously injured cyclist after a crash involving a car near Whitianga.

The Australian soldier who died after being struck by a truck and trailer on Saturday, February 16, has been named.

The man who was killed when his ute crashed into a tree north of Turangi on Wednesday night has been named by police.

Police have made an urgent appeal about racing cars linked to a crash which killed a Napier teen only hours before she would have started a hairdressing course.

Every time Mosgiel resident Nick Vermeulen looks in the mirror, the consequences of his actions are reflected in the asymmetry of his face.

Police are investigating whether a space-saver wheel played a part in the crash which killed a Rotorua mother.

An elderly woman is in a critical condition at Middlemore Hospital after a car ploughed into the bus shelter she was waiting in with her two grandchildren in Auckland yesterday.

Police have named a man who died after his car plunged more than 150m off a bank in the Marlborough Sounds on Monday.

A man has been convicted of careless driving causing injury, despite the fact he wasn't driving the car that crashed, injuring him and his mother.

A communication breakdown between police and Child Youth and Family meant a teen was on the run for three months before crashing and dying in a stolen car.

A coroner says high visibility clothing should be compulsory for cyclists after the death of a senior police officer who was hit by a truck while riding his bike.

Germany's Jacqueline Zech says she had the "best father ever" in an emotional tribute after her dad died in a motorcycle crash north of Wanganui.

The German tourist who suffered life-threatening injuries to his head and face when his motorcycle collided with a four-wheel-drive north of Wanganui yesterday afternoon died in Wanganui Hospital overnight.

Two men were taken to hospital after the car they were travelling in smashed head-on into a tree in Napier.

An elderly man has died and two others have been cut from the wreckage of a two-car crash north of Christchurch this afternoon.

The family of a young man killed in a Waikato hit-and-run hopes an upcoming inquest will finally reveal how he died.

A man has been arrested over the fatal car crash in Auckland that left a passenger impaled on a steel rod.

An Auckland teenage driver has appeared in court today charged with causing the death of a passenger who died after he was impaled on a metal rod.

Bette Eavestaff's hopes of a quiet start to the day crashed in around her as a car ploughed into her bedroom yesterday.