Three people are dead after crashes in Waikato and Marlborough overnight.
Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
The first took place on Prospect Avenue in Tirau at 10pm.
In a statement, police said that the red 2001 Holden Commodore appeared to have failed to negotiate a moderate left-hand bend.
It then hit a tree, causing extensive damage to the vehicle.
The male driver died at the scene and the car's other occupant, also a man, was flown to Waikato Hospital in a critical condition.
Police are appealing for sightings of a white Honda SUV seen leaving the crash site.
A single-vehicle crash killed one person in Waikato when the car went down a bank on State Highway 23 in Raglan at 1.50am.
The driver died at the scene and two others were taken to Waikato Hospital in critical condition, police said.
A motorcyclist also died after hitting a bridge in Koromiko in Marlborough at 12.20am. The driver died at the scene.