"Australia's had a better road safety record than New Zealand historically. They have a lower rate of road deaths and road crashes, but in the last two years and in 2013 in particular, we got down to where New Zealand was just about at the same rate of road deaths [as Australia]."
He pointed to Australia's "higher quality roads" and random road-side drug testing in some states as possible contributing factors in the country's better performance on the roads, but said it was not a fair comparison.
There were "differences in driving culture" that had to be taken into account.
"We have to acknowledge in New Zealand that we drive a lot as a nation, and people often are driving longer distances than in other countries - and over tougher terrain and lower quality roads - so you can't just look at other countries. It's not always an apples for apples comparison," Mr Thomsen said.
He said New Zealand had a "really unique set of circumstances", especially in rural areas where driving was often the only way for people to get around.
The AA would like to see a mandatory safety rating system for all cars sold in New Zealand, as well as the introduction of random road-side drug testing, Mr Thomsen said.
He also urged people to think about their driving behaviours, saying: "Everybody out there has something that they could do better when they're behind the wheel."
ANZPAA chief executive Jon White said this year's figures were "disappointing, if not downright tragic".
"It's certainly a disappointing upward tick in an overall downward trend, and certainly disproportionately higher fatalities in New Zealand than Australia."
However, it was not a long-term trend, he said, describing it as a "blip".
"From time to time this does happen, and indeed it's happened within Australia. South Australia, for example, if you look at the population ratio, they had a disproportionately higher number of fatalities within Australia, and like New Zealand they've been focussing very hard on the 'Fatal Five', the dominant things in crashes."
The 'Fatal Five' were drink-driving, speeding, distraction, fatigue and not wearing a seatbelt, he said.
Mr White urged drivers to focus on cutting out these "avoidable" factors.
Early indications were that alcohol and speeding were factors in at least eight of New Zealand's holiday fatalities, road policing Assistant Commissioner Dave Cliff said today.
"It is a bad decision to drive after drinking. It's that simple."
The official holiday road toll from New Zealand authorities is 17, compared with seven last year, when the official holiday period was three days shorter.
Last Year's ANZPAA figures put New Zealand's road toll at eight out of a total of 36 across both countries - making up 22.2 per cent of the total figure.
ANZPAA road toll figures for the Christmas-New Year period
Australian Capital Territory 0
New South Wales 7
New Zealand 20
Northern Territory 0
Queensland 4
South Australia 8
Tasmania 2
Victoria 4
Western Australia 3
Total Fatalities 48
(Source: ANZPAA. Figures are provisional)
NZ holiday road toll victims- 17 at Jan 5
* January 5 - A driver was killed when he drove his vehicle into a lampost in Christchurch at 1.50am.
* January 3 - Anthony Clifford Sparrow, 50, of Ashburton, died when his motorbike left the road on State Highway 73, near Dry Stream on Porters Pass.
* January 2 - Garry Andrew Wendt, 68, from Ngaruawahia, died after three vehicles crashed on the corner of Whatawhata and Dinsdale Roads in Hamilton.
* January 2 - Martin Cadden, a 22-year old Irish national who was in New Zealand on a working visa, lost control of his car and hit a tree on Lake Rd at Leeston, near Lake Ellesmere, Canterbury.
* January 1 - Paul Ruben Kasper Kapica, 24, from Kerikeri died after the vehicle he was driving rolled on Papamoa Beach in the Bay of Plenty.
* January 1 - Lavi Taimani, 22, was a passenger in a car that crashed into a lighting pole on the Southern Motorway in Auckland. She died at the scene, near the East Tamaki offramp.
* December 31 - Jeremy Towers, 47, died after crashing his motorbike on 15m-high sand dunes at Port Waikato.
* December 30 - Chilyoung Kim and Young-Mo Sang, both 59, from Seoul, South Korea, died after their car crashed off a single-lane bridge in Westland.
* December 29 - A 61-year-old woman was killed when a car and a truck collided on State Highway 1 at Greta Valley in Canterbury.
* December 28 - Two people died following a collision between a car and milk tanker in the Bay of Plenty. The truck and a Volkswagen Golf collided near Paengaroa, at the intersection of State Highway 2 and Wilson Rd.
* December 28 - A 56-year-old motorcyclist died following a crash near Hurunui on Sunday morning. The man was riding a Harley Davidson on State Highway 7, between Culverden and Hanmer Springs, when his machine and a car collided just before 11am.
* December 27 - Jamie Shane Webb, 25, was electrocuted after a car crashed into a power pole on a rural road in Glentui, Canterbury.
* December 26 - Kevin Keane of Timaru died after the rental car he was driving apparently crossed the centre line and collided with another car in the Bay of Plenty, injuring an elderly couple.
* December 26 - A passenger, who was travelling on the back of a utility vehicle, died in hospital on January 4, from injuries sustained from the crash in Raglan on Boxing Day.
* December 26 - Chinese student Pengxiao Tao, 22, known as Jessica, died in hospital on December 27 after a campervan and car collided on the Athol Five Rivers Highway in Southland. A 43-year-old German man has pleaded guilty to charges over the crash.
