Invercargill Breaks Down Its Crash Data

Monday, 1 July 2024, 5:59 pm
Article: Matthew Rosenberg - Local Democracy Reporter

Invercargill didn't have a single fatal car crash in 2023, but issues remain at the city’s intersections.

An Invercargill City Council report for Tuesday’s infrastructure and projects committee meeting has broken down crash data and trends for the past five years.

The data was used to identify areas that were already a problem or had the potential to get worse over time.

Of the past five years, 2023 was the only year without a fatal crash in Invercargill.

Fourteen fatal crashes took place across 2019 to 2022, including the loss of four teenagers in an April 2022 incident.

A total 2147 crashes were recorded for the period 2019 - 2023, with two-thirds (1390) happening at intersections.

Alcohol and drugs were identified as contributing to 13 percent of all intersection crashes.

“Overall crashes are trending downward for the five-year period. However, it is clear that crashes at intersections remain of concern,” the report said.

A deeper analysis of intersection crashes showed driver behaviour was a feature, but steps could be taken to improve outcomes, it also noted.

That included traffic calming — building physical features to slow traffic — and increasing visibility.

The report also looked at the economic costs of car crashes.

Waka Kotahi had found $8.3 million was the minimum that could be applied to the value for preventing fatalities (VPF).

Reducing crashes that could cause injury had direct societal and fiscal benefits, the report said.

Both serious and minor injuries were the lowest they had been in the past five years.

Crashes at intersections dropped from 2022 to 2023, but were still higher than 2019 to 2021 levels.

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