Holiday road toll hits nine

The holiday road toll has climbed to nine after three fatal crashes today, in Tauranga, Blenheim and the Bay of Plenty.

A 68-year-old foreign tourist died after she was hit by a car north of Blenheim shortly after midday.

The incident happened just after 12.10pm west of Cravens Rd, on Rapaura Rd near Spring Creek.

Traffic was reduced to one lane as emergency services worked at the scene.

Sergeant Dan Mattison of Blenheim Police said the woman was taken to Wairau Hospital by Blenheim St John Ambulance with serious injuries and she subsequently died.

The Blenheim Volunteer Fire Brigade, Police and Blenheim St John Ambulance were in attendance.

Earlier today, in Tauranga, a two-car accident on State Highway 2 at Matapihi at 5.30am left occupants of both vehicles seriously injured. One person died later from their injuries.

Road blocks were in place on the highway at Manganui Road and south of the Maungatapu Bridge.

A person also died after a car flipped near Opotiki in the eastern Bay of Plenty.

The crash happened about 1.19am when a car rolled on Gabriels Gully Road, Waiotahi, said Inspector Lance Burdett of police northern communications centre.

"It appears that the driver was thrown from the vehicle when it flipped off the road and into a paddock," he said.

"The deceased was the sole occupant."

No other details were immediately available. It was the third fatal crash in Bay of Plenty in two days.

Yesterday afternoon a woman died and two others suffered life threatening injuries after a crash north of Queenstown.

Two vehicles with three occupants each collided head-on on Littles Road, near Arthur's Point, 6km north of Queenstown about 4.20pm.

The woman who died at the scene, was a passenger, police said.

She was the first person to die on New Zealand roads this year.

The holiday period began at 4pm on December 24 and ends at 6am on January 5.

Two people were killed in separate crashes in Bay of Plenty on Thursday evening.

One died in a head-on crash on State Highway 2 at Matata, 23km northwest of Whakatane, about 6pm.

Less than an hour later, a man died after speeding through a police checkpoint and crashing into a ditch near Opotiki.

Police heard the vehicle speeding towards the checkpoint, which they said they driver would not have seen. When he spotted the police, he ignored signals to stop, and accelerated about 200m before crashing into a ditch.

On Wednesday, a motorcyclist died after crashing on SH6 near Punakaiki, 42km northeast of Greymouth on the West Coast.

Picton man Murray John Roberts, 71, was killed on Monday when his car collided with another vehicle on SH1 southeast of Blenheim.

Ngaruawahia man Paul McLaughlin, 31, was killed in a crash in Waikato early on Christmas Day.

- With Stuff.co.nz, NZPA and Marlborough Express