One person has critical injuries and two others are seriously injured following a crash in Rotorua on Christmas Day.

The crash happened on Ngongotaha Road about 4.30pm when two cars collided.

The driver of one car was trapped and later taken to Rotorua Hospital with critical injuries, say police.

"The vehicle's front seat passenger suffered serious injuries. The sole occupant of the other car also suffered a serious arm injury.

"Ngongotaha Road is closed and traffic is being diverted around the scene."

The police serious crash unit will investigate the cause of the crash.

Police are urging motorists to take it easy after more than 120 incidents on the roads in little more than a day.

The official holiday road monitoring period started on Christmas Eve at 4pm.

Two people were taken to hospital, one reported to be in serious condition and another believed to have suffered moderate injuries, following a serious crash on the Kaimai Range on Christmas Eve.

Also on December 24, passing motorists pulled a man from a car as it burst into flames in the Coromandel.

The car was in a collision with a minivan which was carrying French tourists on the Kopu-Hikuai Rd, just south of the turnoff to Whangamata.

One person was in critical condition and another with moderate injuries following a serious crash involving two cars on State Highway 1 at Hatepe, near Taupo, about 3.15pm on December 24. One car was reported as being on fire.

One person has died and three others have been injured in a crash on State Highway One at Oakleigh near Whangarei.

The crash happened at about 6.45pm on Christmas Day and involved three vehicles. At this stage the severity of the injuries is not known. State Highway One is closed at the scene.

Traffic has been particularly bad on roads in the upper North Island, with accident spots in and around Auckland, north and west of the city, around Waikato and, in the South Island, in Canterbury and the West Coast.

National road policing manager Superintendent Steve Greally says on Friday afternoon there had been 126 crashes since 3pm on Christmas Eve and the driving behaviour was unsafe.

Steve believes other crashes had also taken place across the country since the total was calculated on Friday afternoon. Another update from police will be available later in the evening.

Steve says many of the other crashes were minor and several appeared to have been caused by driver inattention.

"The potential to ruin people's Christmas is high.

"There have been several nose-to-tail crashes all over the country, from Auckland and Hamilton, down to Waimate in Canterbury.

"Although many of these have been minor, they could have been avoided had people kept their distance, kept alert and slowed down.

"Drivers need to keep their wits about them, think about their actions, the consequences and think about how we can all make a difference by driving to the conditions and keeping to a safe speed."

Last year, 13 of the 16 deaths on the roads happened on the open road and almost half the crashes were single vehicle crashes in which the driver lost control or left the road.

Of the 16 deaths last year, seven drivers were killed, seven passengers died and two motorcyclists lost their lives.

In recent years, the lowest holiday road toll was during the 2012/13 Christmas season, when six people lost their lives.

The highest was in 1972, when there were 37 deaths.

Source: Stuff.co.nz