Howto tackle the ‘tragic’ road toll

As the road toll tracks towards a seven-year high, the associate transport minister is calling a crisis meeting to see how the number of deaths can be curbed before the holidays hit.

A spate of road deaths during the weekend has taken the toll for the year-to-date to 330, the same as the toll for the whole of last year with 42 days to go.

Julie Anne Genter has called representatives from police, the New Zealand Transport Agency and Ministry of Transport to Wellington today to figure out what changes will have the biggest impact in the near-term.

The meeting would be a ‘‘stocktake’’ of the current situation, and how the Government could help improve road safety.

The long-term plan involved taking more people out of private cars by improving rail and public transport, more rail and ship freight to reduce the number of trucks on the roads, changing speed restrictions, improving identified dangerous intersections, and continuing with safety advertising campaigns.

Genter also wanted to find solutions in the short-term to curb the number of road deaths before the holiday season arrived.

This year’s road toll was ‘‘tragic’’, she said.

‘‘Every death on our roads is a tragedy and the high number this year is quite simply unacceptable. ‘‘The road toll had been going up over the last four years and was now the highest it’s been since 2010.

‘‘My No 1 priority in the transport portfolio is to bring the road toll down,’’ Genter said. ‘‘In recent years, expensive roading projects have been the priority and road safety has taken a back seat.’’

She was referring to projects such as the proposed east-west motorway link in Auckland, which would have cost about $2 billion.

The new Government has said it would be putting this project on ice, while it explored other transport options.

That meant central government helped local government fund important road safety improvements.

Genter said Auckland Council could not afford to fund road safety improvements, as well as big infrastructure upgrades, like the central rail link.

Central government gathered revenue from petrol tax and road user chargers, while local government had to rely on rates.

That wasn’t a sustainable funding model, she said, adding that Auckland had 500 intersections that had been identified as dangerous; only six were undergoing work.

‘‘Every life lost leaves behind a devastated family and community. We have to do better,’’ Genter said.

The road toll has been tracking up in recent years thanks in large part to there being more cars on the roads. According to an annual Massey University study, there were 4 million cars on the road in 2016 – the highest number ever.