Genter’s road toll target a fantasy

Children and beauty pageant contestants say the darnedest things: Talk with them about some of the trickiest global issues and the reply is invariably the same.

What would you do about war, famine, poverty? I’d make them go away.

Those of us who understand that complex issues lie behind all of those, and that some sectors actually benefit from such cycles of misery, share their idealism but not the naivety.

At this point we should make it clear that we are being deliberately patronising.

To be patronising is to treat someone or something with apparent kindness but, ultimately, condescension.

Julie Anne Genter appears to have both nailed. It is laudable that the Associate Transport Minister cares deeply about the people she represents and is passionate about making our roads safer. We too share her view that the road toll must come down.

But it is condescending and patronising that she would promote a nonsensical target of zero road deaths by 2020. That’s little more than 18 months away, by the way.

Conventional wisdom is that one has the best opportunity to reach targets and achieve goals, even ‘‘audacious’’ ones, when they are meaningful and realistic.

Anything else can undermine the effort and become selfdefeating.

What’s possibly of more concern is that Genter appears to be doubling down after her suggestion of lowering the speed limit to 70kmh for most New Zealand roads sparked outrage and was effectively run down by the prime minister.

‘‘Clear, truly ambitious targets drive policy and help deliver meaningful change,’’ says Genter.

One wonders what kind of policy avenues one might drive down in pursuit of a zero-deaths target.

The Associate Minister and her fellow Greens need to get used to one very salient fact. Yes, we need cycling, rail and other public transport options as part of the mix, but cars are not going anywhere. They are more likely to be powered by electricity in the future than the much-maligned fossil fuels, but they will remain the main transport option for the great majority of Kiwis for many decades to come. Especially those beyond the bigger centres.

Equally condescending is that Genter wants local government to ‘‘be brave enough to take the action that we know is going to save lives, and to bring the community with us’’.

That underplays the crucial role of central government in pushing the road toll either up or down.

Guard rails and rumble strips make sense; taking money that might be spent on improving the quality of our roads and highways does not.

Genter is neither a child nor a beauty pageant contestant. She is a Minister of the Crown and should be delivering facts, not fantasy.