The Easter road toll stands at five after four crashes in the top half of the North Island during the first 24 hours of the holiday period.
A 39-year-old man became the fifth person to die on the roads this Easter after losing control of his motorcycle about midday at the intersection of State Highway 1 and Bosher Road at Wellsford, 115km north of Auckland.
Sergeant Paul Walker of Wellsford police said the motorcyclist was travelling with his wife as a pillion passenger when the crash happened.
"He collected a speed barrier on the side of the road,'' Mr Walker told NZPA.
"Efforts were made to revive him with CPR, including by his wife, but they were unsuccessful."
Mr Walker said the woman received at least a broken arm. He said speed did not appear to be a factor.
Earlier today, a woman died after the car she was driving hit a bridge at the intersection of SH26 and Oak St in Morrinsville, 32km northeast of Hamilton, shortly after 9am.
The woman was approaching the bridge and for some reason went to the left and went into the side of the bridge instead of over it," Constable Erik Harrewijn told NZPA.
The victim was a 48-year-old from Morrinsville. Her name is yet to be released.
Early this morning, a young man aged about 17 was thrown from his car and died after crashing on Whangarei Heads Road, near Whangarei.
The teenager, the sole occupant of the vehicle, appeared to have crashed about 1.30am but was not found until 7.30am, when he was spotted by a passing motorist, police said. No cause had been established yet.
The first victims of the Easter period were two men in their early 20s who died in hospital after a two-car crash on Springs Rd in the south Auckland suburb of Otara, about 10.30pm yesterday.
Both the dead men were passengers in a car which was hit from behind by another car after backing out of a driveway.
The Easter weekend road toll period began at 4pm yesterday and ends at 6am on Tuesday morning.
Last year, nine people died over the long weekend. In 2007, the toll was six, up from three in 2002 and 2003.
Superintendent Paula Rose said the number of dead on the roads was more than in a normal weekend.
"All of them, if I was going to pick a thread, are about driver behaviour, and making the choices that we're making, some people pay with their lives," Ms Rose said. Police would analyse the information at the end of the holiday.
