Police have named a motorcyclist killed when his bike and a campervan crashed near Haast, on the West Coast - one of three people to die on South Island roads on Monday.
He was Steven Wayne Nottingham, 59, of Christchurch.
Police said Mr Nottingham was heading south with another biker when the crash happened north of Haast on State Highway 6, about 1pm on Monday. None of the campervan's three occupants was injured.
Just 15 minutes later, a man and a woman died in a multiple car crash at Bankside in South Canterbury, just north of the Rakaia River near the intersection of State Highway 1 and Breadings Road.
Police said initial reports indicated a car travelling south on State Highway 1 veered across the centre line into the path of a northbound vehicle.
The man driving the southbound car and the woman driving the northbound car both died at the scene. Passengers in each car were airlifted to Christchurch Hospital with serious injuries.
Three other vehicles were also caught up in the aftermath of the crash but no other serious injuries were reported among their occupants.
