The disturbing toll of New Zealand roads

12 people have lost their lives on New Zealand roads over the Christmas and New Year holidays and the lives of many others will have changed forever as they learn to live with permanent injuries.

"It's incredibly sad to have to acknowledge each year that people die and are injured while travelling around New Zealand during the Christmas and New Year holidays," says AA spokesman Simon Lambourne.

"Our hearts go out to these people and their families and friends."

The provisional holiday road toll is 12, which is 13 fewer than the 25 lives lost during same period last year.

The provisional 2009 road toll was 384, which is 18 more than the 366 in 2008. These figures compare to 421 in 2007, 393 in 2006, 405 in 2005, and 435 in 2004.

The AA wants the Government to put more effort into studying the factors that lead to crashes.

The association says that while the road toll has reduced slightly over recent years, the number of serious injuries per kilometre travelled has been increasing since 2000, according to Ministry of Transport data.

"Although there has been good progress addressing issues like speed and seatbelt wearing, for all that effort the risk of crashing is still increasing.

"Sadly crashes often don't just happen when people disobey road rules. There is good evidence that driver distraction, drowsiness and poor handling are far more common causes of crashes. This suggests we need to broaden our approach to road safety.

"There are obvious areas for improvement. For example, four-star quality roads save lives and we're pleased the Government is committing $11 billion to improving state highways and the seven roads of national significance over the next ten years.

"Another obvious area for improvement is among young drivers, who are still grossly over-represented in crashes. We need to change our approach to this problem to make a difference. The AA wants major changes to graduated licence system," says Mr Lambourne.

During the early months of this year, the Government will be finalising their road safety strategy for the coming 10 years.

"It's imperative the Government's road safety strategy includes work to improve our understanding of why people crash and that it finds better ways to improve road safety. The AA will continue to work closely with government agencies throughout 2010 to help with this," says Mr Lambourne.

The AA urges drivers to regularly remind themselves of the AA's safe driving ABCs: only drive if you're Alert, take Breaks, and make sure your driving is Considerate of other road users.

More safe driving tips are on the AA website, including tips on avoiding and minimising the impact of a crash.

ENDS

© Scoop Media