Real road toll causes

Your editorial (The Press, Mar 3) fails to grasp the realities of traffic accidents. Causes of accidents per kilometre travelled per annum are known to NZTA but those figures are not released. My own study several years ago showed that about 70 per cent of serious accidents were drug and alcohol related; about 12 per cent inattention; 10 per cent falling asleep; 3 to 4 per cent for various other factors such as health issues, road or weather conditions, vehicle condition etc. Speed could be less than 2 per cent and, given most accidents occur at relatively

low speeds in urban areas, one could think that police urgently need to refocus on real causes.

I understand that in the 1990s the road toll per kilometre travelled actually increased when police began their focus on speed.

Doug Hitchon

Mahana