The Easter weekend road toll has risen to six after the death of a motorcyclist following an accident yesterday.
Stephen Hayden Michael Jensen, a 30-year-old Christchurch man, died in hospital just before midnight yesterday after an accident in Akaroa on Banks Peninsula.
Mr Jensen's motorcycle and another vehicle collided on the Little River side of Hilltop on the road to Akaroa about 1.45pm.
A woman and three children travelling in the other vehicle were also taken to hospital and were released later in the day.
Mr Jensen was one of six people to die on New Zealand roads over the long weekend, covering the period from 4pm on Thursday to 6am today.
Last year nine people died during the Easter break, and the toll in 2007 was six.
Police said even one death was too many and again urged drivers to be cautious on the roads.
"We're never happy to see people die on the roads, (it's) particularly tragic during (a) holiday period when most people are intent on enjoying themselves," operations manager for road policing Inspector Peter McKay told NZPA.
"The message from the police continues to be to slow down, avoid alcohol, rest and go home safe."
The first road deaths of the Easter period came on Thursday, when two men, both in their early 20s, died in hospital after a two-car collision on Springs Rd in Otara in south Auckland, about 10.30pm.
Both were in a car rear-ended by another car after backing out of a driveway.
Three more people died on Friday, starting about 1.30am when Peter Chaplin, a 17-year-old Whangarei man, was thrown from his rolling Toyota Hilux and killed.
His body was found by a passing motorist at 7.30am on Saturday, near the junction of Whangarei Heads and Nooks Road -- only a few hundred metres from his house.
Shortly after 9am on Friday a 48-year-old Morrinsville woman died when her car hit a bridge at the intersection of SH26 and Oak St in Morrinsville, 32km northeast of Hamilton.
About midday, a 39-year-old man lost control of his motorcycle at the intersection of State Highway 1 and Bosher Road at Wellsford, 115km north of Auckland. He died at the scene.
