Three people, including a mother of eight, are dead after road crashes during the weekend.
Miriama Parata, 35, was killed, but her partner and eight children escaped unharmed, when their mini-van crashed down a bank north of Rata, north east of Marton in the Rangitikei district about 2am today.
The Tauranga woman had been in the front passenger's seat.
Early on Saturday a young man was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Westport.
James Hill, 21, died after being struck by a car about 5.40am.
Hill was walking home from a party when he was hit by a car allegedly driven by a 21-year-old Westport woman who had also been at the party.
Neighbours say there was thought to have been an altercation at the party, The Press reported.
Detective Duncan Bull, of Greymouth police, says reports of a fight would be investigated.
However, the death was being treated as a traffic crash.
The woman had been charged with failing to stop to provide assistance and other charges were likely, he says.
Bull says the woman came in to the Westport police station with a lawyer and was released on bail.
The woman is due to appear in Westport District Court on Tuesday.
An Australian tourist died after crashing into a parked vehicle in Rotorua about 4pm on Friday.
He was Gary Philip Fegan, of Western Australia.
Rotorua Senior Sergeant Brent Crowe says the vehicles collided at low speed and police were investigating whether the tourist had a pre-existing medical condition that could have contributed to the crash.
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