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The road toll has risen to nine after a fatal crash involving a pedestrian north of Blenheim.
The crash happened shortly after midday, on Rapaura Road near Spring Creek.
A 68-year-old tourist from overseas was hit by a car. Police say she was taken to hospital with serious injuries but later died.
The holiday road toll rose to eight after two fatal crashes in the Bay of Plenty overnight Saturday.
One person died in a two car crash on State Highway 2 at Matapihi, Tauranga. Other people involved in the crash are seriously injured.
Earlier the sole occupant of a car was killed after the vehicle flipped off a road into a paddock in Waiotahi, near Opotiki. The driver was thrown out and was found dead at the scene.
On Friday afternoon a woman was the first person to die on New Zealand's roads this year when two cars collided head on in Queenstown. Two of the five other passengers were critically injured in the smash on Arthurs Point Road.
Serious injuries of concern
Despite last year's road toll coming in close to a record low, the AA says it's still concerned at the number of serious injuries from crashes.
The preliminary road toll for 2009 stands at 384 but in the 12 months from July 2008 to June last year, more than 2500 were badly hurt on the roads.
AA spokesman Simon Lambourne says we have seen little progress in reducing the number of serious injuries.
Lambourne says the AA wants improvements to the graduated licensing system and a focus on recidivist offenders.
The AA says the near-record low number of road deaths last year is proof a lot of crashes can be prevented. The toll was heading towards an annual tally of more than 400 until the final quarter of the year, when the number of fatal accidents dipped sharply.
Lambourne says while the government can do things to help keep the toll down such as bringing in new laws on cellphone use, drug driving and illegal street racing, the answer is mostly in the hands of drivers.
He says there's nothing wrong with motorists picking up the road code every six months or so to refresh themselves.
Abrupt wake-up call
An Auckland man got a frightening wake-up call on Saturday morning when a car with two women inside crashed into his Stanwell Road flat in Parnell at around 6am.
Brian Luke says he got a heck of a fright.
The car hit a whole wall at the front of the house, moving it a good 45 centimetres and smashing all the windows.
A woman has been arrested.
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