Two people are dead and four others are fighting for their lives after a four-vehicle collision north of Whangarei.

Police say speed and alcohol were factors in a crash that claimed the lives of three young men in Auckland this morning.

An inquiry into the deaths of three people following a police pursuit found the chase should have been abandoned earlier, and the officer did not fully comply with policy.

One person has been taken to hospital with serious head injuries following a collision in Paekakariki, north of Porirua.

Beverley Potts feared the worst for her little grand-daughter while waiting in agony to be cut free of her wrecked car at a notorious South Auckland crossroad.

The drivers of two cars were killed after one is believed to have drifted across the centre line and collided with the second vehicle head-on last night.

One of two young girls hit by an alleged drink driver in the Bay of Plenty yesterday has been transferred to Auckland for treatment.

A driver in a crash that killed a young Otago man has been sentenced to two years and eight months in jail and disqualified from driving for four years.

A grieving mother has made an emotional plea to a mystery motorist linked to the crash that killed her teenage daughter.

A male cyclist was taken to hospital with minor injuries after being hit by a car in Auckland's Herne Bay this morning.

A campaign targeting motorists who run red or orange lights or fail to follow road rules at intersections started in Hamilton yesterday to try and prevent further crashes.

Two of New Zealand's top musicians are mourning a relative who died after being knocked down at a dangerous Auckland road crossing on her way to a karaoke club night.

Speed and alcohol are not thought to have been factors in a horror accident in which a Waikato jogger was crushed to death by an out-of-control 4WD, police say.

A female jogger was killed after being struck by a 4WD and pinned against the wall of a nearby house in Morrinsville this afternoon, police say.

The mother of a woman killed by a drink-driver is outraged police have stopped releasing name-and-shame lists of convicted drink-drivers because of concerns about breaching their privacy.

Two people have suffered moderate injuries after their vehicle crashed in Northland this morning, trapping one of the occupants.

A refrigerated truck and trailer carrying meat and vegetables has rolled in south Otago, blocking State Highway 1.

Thinking her husband was dead, Nina Bartlett scrambled out of bed to get to her newborn baby seconds after a stolen car ploughed through their bedroom at 150km/h.

A stolen car sought by police in connection with an assault ploughed into a large road sign pole in Hamilton, critically injuring a teenager.