Already this year the road toll stands at 209. Photo / 123RF
Already this year the road toll stands at 209. Photo / 123RF
Statistics released today show deaths on our roads are set to rise again after the last two years saw lower tolls largely thought to be due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The numbers, which were released alongside the Road to Zero Annual Monitoring Report 2021, showed the number of people dying is currently on track to be about 350-360.
According to the Ministry of Transport website, the total number deaths on roads by this time in 2021 was 188 and for the same period in 2020 it was 173. Already this year the provisional death toll stands at 209.
New Zealand's road toll was expected to drop during the past two years as people isolated and travelled less due to Covid-19.
The total death toll on our roads in 2019 was 352.
"2022 has seen a return to more 'normal' life without lockdowns and restrictions and sadly the number of deaths on our roads is on track to be substantially higher than the last two years," AA Road Safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen said.
"What's even more concerning is that this increase in road deaths has come at the same time as record high fuel prices, which would normally be expected to see less crashes due to less driving taking place."
The report showed numbers in 2021 were down last year by 11 per cent compared to the 2018 baseline, and on track towards the target of a 40 per cent reduction by the end of the decade.
Thomsen said that it is hard to be confident right now about how much progress New Zealand has made towards the goal of fewer deaths given 2022's jump in numbers.
He also said the report highlighted areas that we "needed to be doing better on".
"Many of our roads and even major highways are not in good shape right now, we need to be investing more into basic maintenance to ensure our roads are up to the standard they should be and we also need to be making more safety improvements to high-risk highways so they are safer to travel on".
The report further showed only 13km of median barriers had been installed despite the fact that adding a median barrier to a highway will generally mean a 60 per cent or more reduction in fatal and serious crashes.
Thomsen said authorities need to increase the instillation of these to be able to see a "real difference".
Thomsen added refined police enforcement for like drunk and drugged driving would assist a lower road toll.
