Holiday road toll: Eight dead in crashes

The holiday road toll has climbed to eight after two fatal crashes yesterday.

Police confirmed the death of a person in a mid-morning crash in Dairy Flats, and earlier in the day a person died when two cars collided in Pahiatua, north of Masterton.

The deaths take the toll to eight since the official holiday period began at 4pm on Christmas Eve. It runs until 6am on January 5.

That is already twice the road toll over the 2019-2020 Christmas holiday period.

On Christmas Day, two people were killed in rural south Auckland when the car they were in crashed into a power pole.

Police have since named the pair as locals Rebecca McAlees,

24, and Terry Charleston, 34. On Boxing Day, two more people died when their car hit a bridge in West Auckland.

One has since been named as

20-year-old Viliami Muru-Teutau. Police say the name of the other person will be released at a later date.

On Monday, a man and a woman died after a milk tanker and a motorbike collided in Southland.

Muru-Teutau’s family said they were ‘‘devastated’’ by the loss of the young father.

‘‘Our world has been turned upside down and inside out,’’ a family spokeswoman said.

‘‘This is supposed to be a holiday season of festive happiness, and instead we are weeping and we are grieving.’’

Meanwhile, St John Ambulance is urging people to be careful when they are on holiday, saying New Year’s Eve – between 10pm and 2pm – is its busiest time of year.

Calls to the 111 ambulance communications centre triple during that time, and one third are alcohol-related.

Car crashes are among the most common reasons for 111 calls, it said in a statement.

Deputy chief executive Dan Ohs said there would be additional ambulances in hot spots on New Year’s Eve.

‘‘It’s important that people look after each other and have a plan for getting home safely,’’ he said.

‘‘Make sure you drink responsibly, have a sober driver and drink plenty of water.’’

Eight people died over Labour Weekend, the highest road toll for the holiday in nearly a decade.

By contrast, there were zero deaths over the Easter weekend when the country was in lockdown, just the second time that has been recorded.