New Zealand's road toll on track for highest total in years

Monday, 2 October 2017

Trucks on the alternate State Highway 1 near Maruia Springs.

The national road toll is on track to reach its highest total since at least 2010, after four consecutive years of increases.

It signals the end of a downward trend that lasted more than 20 years.

There have been 282 road deaths this year, 15 per cent more than at the same point last year. It is on track to become the deadliest year on the roads since at least 2010.

It is the fourth year in a row the toll has risen. This year's figure is already higher than total road deaths in 2013, with three months still to go.

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The chance of a car occupant dying on the road was 41 per cent higher than it was in 2013, and 12 per cent higher than last year, according to an analysis by NZ Initiative researcher Sam Warburton.

He said although the road toll was variable year to year, a statistical test showed recent increases were not due to natural variation.

'Apart from 2016 where it was flat, the rate of deaths relative to kilometres driven on our roads has been steadily increasing since 2013,' he said.

Because he had adjusted the figure to account for kilometres driven, it could not be due to people driving more often, he said.

There could be many factors involved, but funding decisions by the Government was likely one of them.

Until the late 2000s, the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) was obliged to pursue projects with the highest cost-benefit ratios, which often involved safety improvements, Warburton said.

Governments now had a stronger say in where transport funding went and may have prioritised other measures.

'It could be that Governments have favoured other objectives, such as improving freight productivity or freight travel times . . . over other projects that improve safety,' he said.

'If that is the case . . . this is something we should be debating in our cities and communities.'

Road Traffic Accident Trauma Charitable Trust founder Sarah Dean said changing driver behaviour was the most important factor in driving the road toll down.

'Ultimately, people making the wrong decision, often in a a split-second, can lead to an accident.'

People needed to make careful, informed decisions before getting into their car, and more education for motorists could help.

Dean said she was lucky to have fully recovered after being injured in two crashes, including a near-fatal crash as a 20-year-old but 'some days can be more touching than others'.

The most dramatic increase in fatalities has come from heavy vehicle drivers.

Last year's toll of 84 deaths was the highest recorded since 2006, and this year is on track for another high number.

Cyclist deaths have also increased notably this year. The 15 cycling deaths so far already makes it the most deadly year for cyclists on our roads in over a decade.

Critics of the past National Government have said its investment in new motorways has come at the expense of safety improvements on local roads.

'The previous National Government has spent too much of the transport budget on a few Roads of National Significance and not enough on funding the kind of safety improvements on and around our roads that can lead to a significantly lower road toll,' Green Party transport spokeswoman Julie Ann Genter said.

'Too many people are dying on our roads despite our cars getting safer and our speeds getting slower.'

Data shows this year's road toll has been particularly bad in Northland and Canterbury, which are both on track for their highest fatality numbers in a decade.

In Christchurch city, 13 people have died this year, up from nine for all of 2016. Motorcyclist Hamish John Dysart, 45, was the latest killed on the region's roads when he collided with a tractor near Darfield on Friday.

In the Far North district, 16 have died so far this year, nearly double last year's total.