Travellers urged to drive safe
Holiday crashes ‘not inevitable’
As Kiwis travel long lengths to be with family at Christmas, officials are urging drivers to make safe decisions on the roads as the country enters its busiest time of the year.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency general manager safety, health and environment Greg Lazzaron said nobody’s holiday should be marred by an avoidable tragedy on the roads.
“We’re coming to the end of what has been a long and difficult year for many, and we all deserve a safe and relaxing holiday.”
Each year an average of 11 people were killed and 400 injured on New Zealand roads during the Christmas-New Year holiday break, he said.
“Deaths and serious injuries on our roads are not inevitable, and we shouldn’t accept that serious crashes are just another part of the holidays.”
To help combat the amount of time people are stuck in traffic, Waka Kotahi has developed an interactive map highlighting the worst times, days and locations to be on the move. Overall, mid-morning from 9am onwards is the worst time to travel over the holiday period with heavy traffic easing in most places from 2pm onwards.
While traffic is tipped to be bad on the border of most main centres, Ka¯piti Coast will also be busy. Traffic heading north between Peka Peka and Otaki on State Highway 1 was expected to be slow moving each day from about 8am and 1pm. For those heading south, traffic was at its worst in the afternoon from 1pm onwards.
For Aucklanders heading south, traffic was forecast to be at its worst after Christmas from December 27 to 30. Motorists heading north from Auckland could expect heavy traffic to ease today and tomorrow, Christmas Day, and then pick up on Boxing Day.
National road policing manager Acting Superintendent Gini Welch said with more cars on the road, there was naturally more risk, so it’s more important than ever that people are focused when driving so everybody can arrive alive.
“We all need to do the simple things to keep safe on the road. That means watching your following distance and keeping your speed down. It also means resting before you set off on your journey, and sharing the driving if you can.”