Police say alcohol was a factor in a fiery crash that claimed four lives near Gisborne on Saturday night.
A head-on collision happened at 9.15pm on State Highway Two near Te Karaka when a SUV crossed the centre line and hit a van.
Three passengers in the SUV died after the vehicle caught fire.
Police are waiting to speak to the driver who survived the crash and is in an induced coma at Gisborne hospital.
The sole occupant of the van, a woman, was killed.
National road policing manager Superintendent Carey Griffiths said the crash was a tragic reminder that risky drivers put more people in danger than just themselves.
The deaths brought the Labour Weekend road toll to seven. A two-car collision north of Timaru earlier claimed the life of a pregnant woman. Her husband and two children were injured.
A woman died after an alleged hit and run incident near New Plymouth and her body was found in the back seat of a car on Saturday.
And a teenage girl was killed in a crash near Rotorua on Friday night.
But Superintendent Griffiths says overall driver behaviour is good.
He says generally people are taking their time and watching their speed and following distances.
"The common denominator for a lot of our serious and fatal crashes however are people that simply don't get that message - driving too quickly, not wearing seatbelts and drink driving really comes through".
The official road toll period for Labour weekend ends on Tuesday morning.
