Three crashes today on the top of five on Wednesday, including a head-on crash between a truck and motorhome, have police repeating driving warnings.

The driver of the motorhome involved in the crash on the Te Puke Highway, near Pah Road, remains in Tauranga Hospital in a critical but stable condition.

Police are still investigating the circumstances of the crash, which forced officers to close down the highway for several hours.

On top of the crashes from yesterday, Western Bay of Plenty road policing manager Senior Sergeant Ian Campion says police responded to three this morning – two of which resulted in minor injuries to the drivers.

On SH29, in the Lower Kaimai area, a vehicle travelling towards Tauranga lost control, struck the Armco barrier and ended up blocking the Tuakopai Bridge, near Soldiers Road. There were no injuries.

'Preliminary indications are, too fast for the conditions,” says Ian.

There was also a three car nose-to-tail on Hewletts Road at 7.24am. One driver sustained minor injuries.

At 7.45am, a car police believe was driving too fast for the conditions, lost control on a bend and struck a power box beside No1 Road near Te Puke. The driver suffered a minor injury, says Ian.

'I can't stress enough how important it is for drivers to take care out there.

'Already this morning we've had three reported crashes on the back of five yesterday and all of those crashes are preventable.

'Please just take care out there, concentrate on driving. If driving first thing in the morning make sure your windscreen and all the windows are clear and you have got good visibility.

'And with the damp conditions and autumnal conditions in the weather make sure your tyres are up to scratch. And bear in mind at this time of year that sunstrike can be a problem.”