One person is dead following a crash on State Highway 35 on Saturday, bringing the Labour Weekend road toll to three.

Police confirmed the latest incident happened around 10.35pm, about 6 kilometres north of Waihau Bay, Bay of Plenty.

It was a single vehicle crash, and police were still looking into the circumstances of the incident.

The death brings the Labour weekend road toll to three, after two people died in car crashes earlier in the day on Saturday.

One person died in a single-vehicle crash on High St in Taita, Lower Hutt about 11am.

Police were investigating the circumstances of the crash and the road has since reopened.

Another person died in a crash involving two vehicles on Hamilton's Horotiu Rd near SH39 about 11am.

On Sunday morning, a crash near Te Awamutu injured four people – three of them seriously – and closed part of SH3.

Seven people died in crashes during Labour Weekend in 2021 and eight in 2020, according to Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport.

They were the deadliest Labour Weekends since eight people died on the roads in 2011.

The official holiday period begins at 4pm on the Friday and ends at 6am on the Tuesday.

Police say they will be out on the roads over the long weekend in effort to spot and deter unsafe driving behaviour.

Director of road policing Steve Greally says motorists might see a police officer every 15 to 20 minutes on some highways.

Traffic is traditionally heavy during long weekends as holidaymakers skip town.

'Any death on the roads is one too many, and we certainly don't want to have a repeat of that number this year,” says Greally.

'We need everyone to play their part in reducing the amount of death and injury on the roads. Police and our road safety partners can only do so much.”

Torika Tokalau/Stuff