Road toll highest in 5 years

New Zealand’s top road police officer is pleading with motorists to drive to survive. In the 12 months from the end of June last year, 389 people died on the roads — the highest 12-month period in the past five years.

So far this year, 198 people have lost their lives, 11 more than the same period last year and 38 more than in 2014. National manager of road policing, Superintendent Steve Greally said the 2018 road toll was unacceptably high and called on all drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to take responsibility of their actions.

“I think the most common cause of crashes is poor decision making on behalf of our drivers out there. The drivers are the ones responsible for the decisions they make and how they’re going to operate that motor vehicle, or how they’re going to cross that road or how they’re going to ride a push bike.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do as drivers across the country here, taking ownership of the problem,” Greally said.

The four leading causes of crashes in New Zealand are restraint — no seatbelt, impairment, distraction and fatigue, according to Greally.

This year’s toll includes the seven people who died after a head-on smash near Waverley in south Taranaki on Wednesday, the worst crash in 13 years.

The Transport Agency’s safety and environment director, Harry Wilson, said there are several reasons for the rise in road deaths.

One of these is an increase in the number of cars on our roads since the end of the global financial crisis and more kilometres travelled by people and freight vehicles.

“NZTA will be accelerating speed management, we’ll be trying to identify where the highest-risk roads are and making sure those roads have safe and appropriate speeds.”