New Action Plan a Key Road Safety Tool

Dunedin (Wednesday, 26 March 2014) – Significantly reducing the number of deaths and injuries on Dunedin roads is the vision of a new Road Safety Action Plan.

The Integrated Transport Strategy (ITS), released last year, states that Dunedin has the highest level of overall safety risk of any New Zealand city. The goal is to halve the number of fatal and serious injury crashes in Dunedin over the next decade. To put this in context, in 2013, 81 people were killed or seriously injured on Dunedin’s roads and roadsides.

The Dunedin Road Safety Partners – the Dunedin City Council, the NZ Transport Agency, Police, the Otago Regional Council and ACC – have prepared the Action Plan as a key operational document to give effect to the ITS.

DCC Senior Traffic Engineer Ron Minnema says, “The Road Safety Action Plan enables the partner organisations to target complex road safety issues by working together in a smarter way.”

While Road Safety Action Plans have been around for some years, this version has been updated to reflect the Safe System approach.

“The approach works on the principle it is not acceptable for road users to be killed or seriously injured if they make a mistake.”

The Action Plan identifies the key areas of concern, as listed in the ITS, as younger drivers, intersections, pedestrians, motorcyclists, cyclists and older road users. The Plan includes action maps with timeframes to show what will be done and when.

Mr Minnema emphasised road safety was everyone’s responsibility, with vehicles increasingly having advanced safety features, roads and roadsides being constructed to accommodate mistakes, appropriate speed limits and road users being aware of the risks and driving to the conditions.

Acting Southern District Road Policing Manager Senior Sergeant Steve Larking says the Action Plan is a move forward in road safety, ensuring that all partner agencies working hard to improve road safety worked together and had a plan to follow.

Transport Agency Road Safety Spokesperson for the Southern Region Bruce Richards says, “It’s a well-focused strategy that sets a platform and the clear goals needed to make real road safety gains in Dunedin over the next 10 years. It also enables Dunedin road safety partners to work collectively and more effectively to improve road safety in our city.”

The Action Plan is being presented for noting at the DCC’s Infrastructure Services Committee meeting on 1 April. The Plan will be updated annually.

ENDS

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