Police described New Zealand's roads as becoming "battle zones", predicting 60 more people will die on the roads this year.

So far in 2017, 293 people have died on our roads, compared with 251 at the same in 2016 - which was then the deadliest year on New Zealand roads in at least five years.

In the last 12 hours, two cars crashed on State Highway 6 north of Winton, Southland late on Sunday, killing three people.

FACEBOOK Jesse Shortland, left, and Samie Shortland were killed in a crash near Dipton in Southland.

Two of the people have been identified as Jesse Shortland and his wife Samie, who had been attending a funeral.

​Their 8-month-old baby, Skylar, was pulled from the wreckage by a farmer.

One person died after three people were trapped in a stolen car that hit a tree on Bairds Rd, Ōtara, South Auckland.

ABIGAILDOUGHERTY/STUFF Fire service and police at the scene of a car accident in Ōtara, south Auckland.

He was later identified by police as Morocco Tai, 15. It was also revealed that he and four other teenagers were in a car that was driven on the wrong side of Auckland's southern motorway on September 22.

One person died and another was critically hurt in a serious crash in Motueka, Tasman.

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Abigail Dougherty A police chase in Ōtara ended in a car crashing into a tree, killing the driver.

A man died after his car crashed in the carpark of North Shore hospital in Auckland - however it was still not known whether this was a medical event.

Also on Monday, an 18-year-old male was airlifted to Waikato Hospital after a serious crash, north of Matamata.

Three people also died in two crashes on the Waikato district's highways over the weekend, in a two-car crash on State Highway 3 near Lees Block Rd on Sunday, and when a BMW collided with a Linfox truck and trailer unit on the Waikato Expressway at Tamahere on Saturday.

MURRAY WILSON/STUFF A fatal crash scene in Manawatu in August.

So far this year, with Labour weekend and the Christmas break still looming, there have been more deaths than all of 2013.

"If we can get under 350 this year, I would take that as some sort of victory," road policing national manager Superintendent Steve Greally said.

"Although it is a gutting one because one death is too many. It is feasible to stop at 290 this year."

SIMON HENDERY/ STUFF Police at the scene of a fatal crash north of Napier between a car and a logging truck on State Highway 2 earlier this year.

Greally, clearly upset with the rising toll, argued police were doing all they legally could to get the toll down.

"The last four years have been particularly gruesome – a battle zone [on the roads]."

But some speed limits, especially on rural roads, were simply too high. He pointed to one 100kmh road in Peka Peka, south of Otaki, where it was all but impossible to safely reach 100kmh then slow down in time.

Roads like this were dotted around New Zealand, and while there was work underway by NZTA to improve them, or drop speed limits, people needed to drive to the road – not the limit.

Laws banning cell phones while driving were being "absolutely flouted", even if only four or five per cent of people who crashed later admitted to using a phone when they crashed.

"When we have a fatal and put in an in-depth investigation, we find a lot more people are using their phones."

According to Ministry of Transport figures, road deaths dropped by an average of 10.4 per year between 2000 and 2010.

In 2013, when 253 people died, New Zealand recorded the lowest road toll since 1950, when there were eight-times fewer cars in the country.

According to an analysis by NZ Initiative researcher Sam Warburton, the chance of a car occupant dying on the road was 41 per cent higher than it was in 2013, and 12 per cent higher than last year.

Though the road toll was variable year to year, a statistical test showed recent increases were not due to natural variation.

"Apart from 2016 where it was flat, the rate of deaths relative to kilometres driven on our roads has been steadily increasing since 2013."

Because he had adjusted the figure to account for kilometres driven, it could not be due to people driving more often.

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