Police have named the man who died following a crash between a car and a motorcycle on State Highway 38, near Rerewhakaaitu, on Saturday.

The motorcyclist died at the scene, he was Tony Lars Hansen, 52, of Rotorua.

Police extend their sympathies to his family and friends, says a statement from police.

"An investigation into the circumstances of the incident is ongoing."

Seven people have died so far this Easter long weekend - with less than 12 hours still to go in the reporting period.

That's more than the total for the entire Easter holiday period every year - bar one - for the past decade.

Yesterday a motorcyclist died in a crash with a car in the far north, while there was another fatal crash involving a motorbike on Saturday at Waimangu in Bay of Plenty.

On Saturday night a person in Otaki died after crashing into a powerpole, and a man was struck and killed by a bus in downtown Wellington.

On Friday a woman died in a crash at an intersection at Whakamaru in Waikato, and a person died after a truck and car collided in Hauraki on Thursday.

The Easter holiday period began on Thursday afternoon and runs until 6am tomorrow.

There were no deaths recorded over Easter last year - for the first time since 2012. Easter also coincided with the alert level 4 lockdown.