Vehicle checks back in spotlight

So has a deadly cocktail of subpar maintenance and a she’ll-be-right attitude been a factor in the climbing toll? . . . It must be properly considered.

In the context of a year and a half in which New Zealand’s road toll has climbed rapidly, it seems almost counter-intuitive that there is a crumb of comfort in July’s statistics. We probably shouldn’t read too much into that. The perspective of a longer view is important here, but it’s worth nothing that, as of Sunday, this year’s toll was 221, five up on the tally by July 29 last year.

That’s not encouraging in itself, but at the end of last month, this year’s toll stood at exactly 200, 14 up on the first half of 2017, and on pace to reach 400 for the first time since 2007. June had closed with the unspeakable tragedy of a two-vehicle crash that claimed seven lives in Taranaki.

July 2017 ended disastrously, the month’s tally reaching 37 and the year’s toll 223 by the 31st, so the 21 fatalities in the first 29 days of this July at least represent an improvement on that terrible month. Without tempting fate, the 2018 toll could be just about on par with that at the same time last year, once today is done.

That would offer the merest glimmer of hope that the 2018 toll could yet dip under last year’s figure of 380, arresting a trend that has seen the toll climb annually since 2013’s 63-year low of 253.

Despite concerns expressed by the motor trade at the time, it may be complete coincidence that it was at the start of 2013 that changes to warrant of fitness (WOF) rules were announced by transport minister Simon Bridges for vehicles, requiring those first registered after January 1, 2000, to have annual, rather than six-monthly, WOF checks.

However, the question of vehicle maintenance has been thrown into sharp relief of late, notably by the weekend’s fatal bus crash on O¯ hakune Mountain Rd, with passengers claiming the brakes on the Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bus had failed.

Earlier this year, Canterbury bus company Travlon narrowly avoid losing its licence, subject to close supervision, after serious crashes in the Otira Gorge in December 2015 and on the Akaroa Highway in February 2017. Two audits had found fault with multiple buses, and the company cutting ties with mechanic James Coakley was key to retaining its licence.

So has a deadly cocktail of subpar maintenance and a she’ll-be-right attitude been a factor in the climbing toll? That’s impossible to say on a national scale, and doing so would be an insult to the majority doing diligent work. But if the agencies with a vested interest in arresting the toll are serious, it must be properly considered.

There are several other factors, of course, and the key to turning around a deeply concerning trend must be in giving each due consideration: not just maintenance practices, but drink and drug driving, poor driving, increasing vehicle numbers, road layout problems, speed limits, and reduced road police personnel – in January Stuff reported, based on information released under the Official Information Act, that those numbers had dropped 12 per cent since 2008.

In the great melting pot of rational discussion that is Facebook, it’s easy to find critics adamant that a single factor is behind our rising road toll, but in the real world they all contribute to some degree, and each deserves careful consideration. Otherwise any reduction in the toll achieved this year may turn out just to be an aberration.