A woman has died from injuries sustained in a mountain biking accident on Monday, bringing the number of deaths on New Zealand's roads this Labour weekend to seven - the worst road toll since 2011.
The woman died in hospital, police confirmed on Tuesday morning, following the accident on Luck at Last Road in the rural community of Maungatautari on Labour Day.
The death has been included in the official road toll period for the long weekend, which began at 4pm on Friday.
Six others died on New Zealand's roads throughout the long weekend, compared with just one death over the same period last year.
The first fatality was recorded on Friday night after a motorcyclist died in Upper Hutt, followed by another fatal crash in Te Karaka, a small settlement on the outskirts of Gisborne, early on Saturday morning. The deceased has been identified as 36-year-old Kelly Eugene Baker.
Hours later, a two-car collision on the Tekapo-Twizel road near Lake Tekapo killed 42-year-old Aucklander Che Tekapa Hogg. On Saturday evening, a pedestrian died from injuries sustained in an earlier crash with a heavy vehicle in Whanganui.
On Sunday afternoon, another motorist died when their car rolled on State Highway 35 in Tikitiki, East Cape. The sixth fatality was recorded on Sunday night after a two-vehicle crash in Tokomaru in the Horowhenua district. One driver died at the scene, while a passenger in the second car suffered moderate injuries.
Authorities issued a series of warnings following the horror start to the public holiday weekend, with Eastern District Police regional road policing manager Matt Broderick telling motorists to "get with the programme".
"If you think you're immune to making a mistake, you really aren't a member of the human race," he told Newshub.
"We're just having a devastating toll, which is even more devastating when you consider that we had a lot less vehicles on the road for a good chunk of the early part of the year."
