The country's top road cop is pleading for people to remember road safety basics, after the holiday road toll jumped to seven dead.
Photo: NZ POLICE
Three lives were wiped out when a car rolled in rural Canterbury last night.
That followed three earlier fatal crashes, including the East Coast bus crash on Christmas Eve, which killed two people.
The official holiday period began less than three days ago and still has more than eight days to run. Eleven people died on the roads in the entire holiday period last summer.
National road policing manager Superintendent Steve Greally said this year's toll was already "horrific".
Mr Greally said there were a few simple things people could do to ensure safer roads.
Police repeated the same message year-round of keeping to the appropriate speed, not drinking and driving, and wearing seatbelts, he said.