Slashing of local road toll hailed

The number of people killed on South Canterbury roads in 2020 dropped to a five-year low.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency figures show seven people died from fatal injuries in the Aoraki policing district during 2020.

The figures show 22 people died in 2019, 17 in 2018, 18 in 2017 and eight in 2016.

Four people were killed in the Ashburton District in 2020, two in the Mackenzie District and one in the Timaru District. No-one was killed on Waimate roads.

The number of serious injuries reported dropped significantly in 2020, down to 36, the lowest in the same five-year period.

There were 58 people seriously injured in 2019, 59 in 2018, 68 in 2017 and 64 in 2016.

The number seriously hurt in Timaru dropped from 24 in 2019 to eight in 2020, in Waimate from 12 to two, and in Mackenzie from 11 to eight.

Inspector Dave Gaskin said the telling statistics were the ones related to serious injuries.

‘‘I always think this figure is more important, as often the difference between a serious crash and a fatal crash is a matter of millimetres.

’’While one year is not a trend, and last year was a very big reduction on the previous years’ numbers, the number of serious injuries have been decreasing over a number of years.

‘‘It is my wish that these results are not just a one-off, but continue into the years to come.’’

In terms of the drop in the number of people killed on roads in the area, Gaskin said 2020 had been ‘‘a particularly good year on our roads’’.

‘‘In March we went into lockdown, then virtually no-one was using the roads.

‘‘As a result, and afterwards, people haven’t been using the roads as much.’’

Gaskin said the drop in the number of international visitors coming to the area was not a contributing factor.

‘‘It’s certainly the best year I can recall since the late 1990s. People have just slowed down.’’

However, crash and death and serious injury rates per population and per kilometres travelled were still higher than Australia and most OECD countries, South Canterbury road safety coordinator Daniel Naude said.

Loss of control crashes were the predominant type, accounting for 63 per cent of crashes in the policing district in 2020, Naude said.

‘‘Many drivers are uninformed or misinformed, and a small percentage are just arrogantly ignoring the rules.’’

Naude said it was a matter of improving driver skills and attitudes through education and enforcement.