Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter has called an urgent meeting of officials after the road toll in the year-to-date eclipsed the the total for 2016.

Three deaths during the weekend took the toll for the year-to-date to 329, one more than last year.

A woman died after a two-car crash in Waikato about 1.30pm on Saturday, a 42-year-old pedestrian died following an incident on SH2 at Mangatawhiri near Pokeno about 2am on Sunday and a man died in a crash at Fernhill in Hawke's Bay at 11.28am on Sunday.

By Friday 326 people had died on New Zealand roads in 281 accidents.

Of the total, 169 were drivers, 72 were passengers, 37 were motorcyclists, 16 were pedal cyclists and 32 were pedestrians.

Ms Genter has called a meeting on Tuesday of officials from the police, the Ministry of Transport and the NZTA.

"I've asked officials for an immediate briefing on what can be done in a short period of time and they've indicated a few areas, so we'll be exploring those and implementing whatever's going to be most effective to save lives," Ms Genter told Newshub.

She said hundreds of safety project could now take priority over big-ticket and big-money highways.

"We will be making safety a major priority in transport policy and funding," Ms Genter tweeted on Sunday.