Rural roads a vital focus

Many people, of varying political hues, will acknowledge it makes sense to invest significantly in roads beyond state highways.

‘If we design around the potential for human error, which we cannot mitigate, we actually keep people safer.’’

Tina Jennen can say that with some authority. She was nearly killed when a car driven by a person asleep at the wheel ploughed into her vehicle on State Highway 2 between Katikati and Tauranga in 2017.

Two years later, it appears the people charged with keeping her and millions of others safe on our roads have been listening. The Government’s Road to Zero strategy has as its focus a few hard truths: two-thirds of fatal crashes are caused by driver error, 70 per cent of them are on rural roads, and many of those roads and others are not up to safe driving at higher speeds.

Many people, of varying political hues, will acknowledge it makes sense to invest significantly in roads beyond state highways, including more median and roadside barriers on the most dangerous roads. Research shows such measures can reduce fatal crashes by as much as 90 per cent.

That spending, along with other refinements, including the widening of some roads and the straightening of dangerous corners, will, in conjunction with advancements in the safety technology of modern cars, make a serious dent in the growing road toll.

However, not all aspects of the strategy are likely to find wide support, even if they appear to make a great deal of sense.

Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter acknowledged it would take many years to bring some of the most dangerous roads up to scratch. In the meantime, it appears the proposal

would be to reduce speeds along those stretches.

In Sweden, whose Vision Zero plan is the template for this scheme, speeds on roads not classified as type 1 can drop to 70kmh. According to the strategy document, research suggests accidents at that speed are less likely to result in death. But many New Zealanders will balk at the idea of travelling at that speed for long periods of time.

Also, the strategy suggests a renewed focus on driver licensing, vehicle certification and safety standards for new and used cars. Taking another look at licensing and certifications makes a lot of sense, with the latter in particular being called into question over the past year, after a dangerous lack of oversight for warrants of fitness and those issuing them was revealed.

But the proposal to push retro-fitting of safety technology into vehicles, and to follow this up through the certification process, will leave some confused and concerned. Maybe out of coin.

The Government’s plans, announced last week, to encourage the use of electric, hybrid and more fuel-efficient cars are likely to add thousands of dollars to the price of some imported vehicles, potentially having an impact on those who have to buy at the older, lower-quality end of our national fleet.

Those are the cars without various electronic driving aids, multiple air bags and other safety advancements. Retrofitting such things could place an unfair burden on those people who were unable to afford such life-saving technology in the first place.

Failing to acknowledge that could be another, potentially fatal human error.