Road toll lowest in 40 years

The national road toll for 2006 was the lowest in more than 40 years. Three hundred and ninety people died on New Zealand roads last year – a little over one a day on average. However this number is 17 fewer than in 2005 and the lowest yearly road toll since 1960, when there were 374 road deaths.

Dave Cliff, Road Policing Manager Superintendent, says that while no death is acceptable, he is pleased with the progress that has been made. He believes most drivers have changed their attitudes and now have a healthy respect for the roads.

Despite the improvement, Mr Cliff says speed and alcohol remain the most common contributors to fatalities on New Zealand roads. Excessive speed factors in 30 percent of fatalities and drink-driving contributes to 28 percent. Mr Cliff said the number of drink-drive prosecutions had risen by about 1000 for each of the past two years and that 2006 saw the figure climb above 29,000.

Although the Ministry of Transport reports that New Zealand's safety belt wearing rate is currently 94 percent for adults in the front seat, and 86 percent in the rear seat, 24 percent of the vehicle occupants killed last year were not wearing seatbelts. Wearing a safety belt reduces the chance of death or serious injury in a crash by 40 percent regardless of whether the occupant is sitting in the front or the back seat.

While Land Transport NZ is encouraged by the record low toll, spokesman Andy Knackstedt says it is sobering to remember that there have been nearly 4,600 deaths and 132,000 injuries from crashes on our roads over the past 10 years.

More than 35,000 people have been killed on the road since New Zealand's first known fatal crash in Christchurch in 1908. The deadliest year on our roads was 1973, when 843 were killed.

As recently as 1990, there were 729 road deaths in New Zealand. Since then, the annual road toll has dropped by 47 percent in spite of a 21 percent increase in population and a 42 percent increase in the number of vehicles on the road.

In 2002 Government announced its new road safety goals of achieving no more than 300 fatalities and 4,500 hospitalisations per annum by 2010. To reach these, annual road fatalities will need to be brought down by 23 percent over the next four years.

At 4pm on December 22 the 2006/07 holiday period officially began.  At its close, at 6am January 3, there were nine deaths recorded which six drivers and three passengers. Land Transport New Zealand figures show that this is the lowest figure since 1959/60 when eight people were killed, and is far down on the 22 who died last year.

Eight of the nine deaths occurred on the open road - five in single vehicle crashes in which a driver lost control of the vehicle or ran off the roadway, and three in head on collisions. One person was killed in an intersection collision. Two of those killed were not restrained at the time of the crash.

Knackstedt says that the care and patience shown by most drivers over the holidays must continue year-round if the positive trend is to continue.

The above information has been sourced from the following articles
http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/media/2007/070101.html