Road toll at decade high

Nearly 400 lives were lost on New Zealand roads in 2018, making it the country’s worst annual road toll in a decade.

Two people died on Monday, pushing the road toll to 381, passing the 378 who died in 2017.

A man died when the vehicle he was in crashed down a 10-metre bank on the Coromandel while another man died in Wellington Hospital from injuries received when a vehicle he was a passenger in a crashed on Lake Ferry Road near Martinborough on December 12. Eight people have died in crashes during the current holiday period, which runs from December 24 to January 3. Police Minister Stuart Nash said 2018’s toll was the worst since 2009, when 384 people were killed.

"There are far too many families who are missing a loved one these holidays after road accidents this year. It is devastating to know that many of these deaths were preventable.

‘‘Although road deaths as a proportion of our population and in comparison to the number of cars on the road have halved in the past 20 years, we can do much better. We can work together to reduce the number of deaths.

‘‘The main contributing factors are speed, failure to wear a seatbelt, distraction such as using a cellphone, and impairment from drugs, alcohol, or fatigue,’’ Nash said.

The region with the largest share of fatalities was Waikato at

17 per cent, followed by Auckland and Canterbury with 14 per cent each, and Manawatu¯ /Whanganui on 12 per cent.

Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter compared the road toll to being equivalent in scale to a major airline crash.

‘‘It is yet another reminder of the need to make substantial improvements to road safety in New Zealand,’’ she said.

‘‘The Government is investing

$1.4 billion over three years to make urgent safety improvements across our highrisk roads. On high volume state highways New Zealanders can expect to see more improvements like life-saving median and side barriers and crash-preventing rumble strips.’’

The AA is urging motorists to think about their own behaviour on the roads.

‘‘A study by the AA Research Foundation found that about half of fatal crashes involved extreme and reckless behaviour but the other half tended to involve ordinary, everyday drivers who might make a mistake or a bad decision behind the wheel with tragic results,’’ AA road safety spokesman Dylan Thomsen said.

The road toll continues a tragic trend of more deaths and injuries from crashes since the record low year of 2013, when 253 people died.

Simple things like always wearing a seatbelt, driving to the conditions, keeping a good following distance and avoiding distractions might not seem like much, but made a real difference when millions of people were doing them, he said.

The annual road toll figure remains provisional and can be revised upwards or downwards following the investigation of the circumstances of each crash. Medical events were not counted in the official figures, but death within 30 days of a crash would be included.