A French tourist facing charges over a fatal collision with a motorbike in Waikato on Saturday has briefly appeared in court.

Police want more effort to be put into educating foreign tourists about driving in New Zealand to stop them dying on our roads.

A young German tourist hit and killed by a truck wrote of aggressive Kiwi drivers just a few days before her death.

Eighty per cent of people want the legal driving age raised to 18 or higher.

Holidaymakers heading back to Auckland today are being urged to take a different route to avoid one of the region's most heavily congested roads.

Experts believe publicity around new laws on cellphone use, drugged drivers and illegal street racing led to the smallest number of road deaths ever recorded.

New Zealand's road toll was running last night at its second lowest since 1960, although the police still want drivers to take extra care over New Year.

Two of the best months recorded on New Zealand roads have given officials hope that there will be fewer than 400 deaths this year.

Police in New Zealand and Australia are cracking down on alcohol related crime this weekend in the first joint operation between the two countries.

Following a south Auckland booze blitz which nabbed 81 alleged drink-drivers on Saturday night, nzherald.co.nz today followed those and other offenders through the courts.

The motorist who knocked down four cyclists on Auckland's Tamaki Drive has pleaded guilty to four charges of careless driving.

"The number of women [caught] was just amazing. Years ago, it was just men who were dumb enough to drink drive," a road policing manager says.

A teenager whose night of drinking ended with the death of his best friend in a road crash has been jailed for five years.

Did the police really have to tell Air NZ about a flight attendant who failed a breath test? Employment lawyer Greg Cain discusses.