"I urge people to take care on the roads this Easter Weekend, and to drive responsibly," she said.
"We know that the vast majority of serious crashes result from simple mistakes on the road.
"This highlights the importance of driving fresh and not taking risks, as well as the need for the Government to do its bit to make our roads safer."
A Local Government Road Safety Summit in Wellington on April 9 would enable the Government to hear from councils about how make the roads safer, Genter said.
"Road deaths are not an inevitability. The Government is looking to boost investment for safety improvements like median barriers, passing lanes and intersection upgrades on local and regional roads."
Twenty years ago, Sweden had the same level of road deaths as New Zealand, Genter said.
"Today, after heavily investing in safety, it is one of the safest countries in the world to drive in.
"If we had the same fatality rate as Sweden, 255 people who died on our roads last year would be alive today."
NZ Police assistant commissioner for road policing Sandra Venables said last Easter poor driver behaviour and speed were the main factors of crashes.
"We know the four main behaviours that contribute to road trauma are going too fast for the conditions, impairment such as fatigue, drugs or alcohol; distractions such as using a cell phone and not wearing seatbelts."
NZ Transport Agency safety and environment director Harry Wilson said with more people on the roads it was important to plan ahead.
"We don't want to see people getting impatient and taking unnecessary risks such as dangerous overtaking manoeuvres or following too closely."
