Road safety to 2010

< back to the contents page | next >

Introduction

Road Safety to 2010 provides a direction for road safety in New Zealand, and describes the results the government wants to achieve by 2010.

It sets out:

• the government’s balanced approach using initiatives that are built around the three
  Es — engineering, education and enforcement
• the first stage of initiatives (to 2004)
• the co–ordination, funding and other mechanisms that will be involved in implementing the strategy
• the priority areas that will be a focus for the government’s road safety activity up to 2010.

The road safety strategy will be an important component in achieving the New Zealand Transport Strategy goal of an affordable, integrated, safe, responsive and sustainable transport system.

The task ahead

Our goal is to reduce the number of road deaths per year to no more than 300 and hospitalisations to no more than 4,500 by 2010. This is an ambitious goal, which will require some new road safety activities, but the government believes it is achievable.

Other countries have done what we are setting out to do, and we are also building on a demonstrated track record in New Zealand. For example, road death and hospitalisation rates per 100,000 population have declined from 21.4 deaths and 245 hospitalisations in 1990 to 10.2 deaths and 164 hospitalisations in 2002 (see Figure 1). Despite traffic growth, total deaths have fallen from 729 in 1990 to 404 in 2002.

Figure 1. Deaths and hospitalisations
per 100,000 population.
Source: Land Transport Safety Authority and New Zealand Health Information Service data.
Note: The rise in hospitalisation figures during 2000–2001 appears to have
been the result of changes in hospital reporting procedures.

Engineering, education and enforcement — the key to success

This strategy takes a balanced approach, tackling our road safety problem on three fronts: engineering, education and enforcement. During the life of this strategy, we will introduce and implement measures that encompass improved safety engineering of the road and of vehicles, comprehensive road safety education and effective enforcement. Not only does this approach offer us the best chance of achieving our goals by 2010, but our consultation shows it is also widely supported by the New Zealand public.

By reducing our annual road casualties to no more than 300 deaths and 4,500 hospitalisations by 2010, New Zealand’s road safety performance will be closer to that of countries with the best safety records. Our analysis shows this is achievable.¹ We will focus on how safety can be engineered into the road network, as well as using the power of education and advertising to influence how people use the roads. We will build up community–based road safety programmes, and introduce programmes to address the risks faced by such groups as novice drivers, heavy vehicle drivers and operators, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
We will soon have to get tougher on our major driver behaviour problems, such as drink–driving, speeding and serious repeat offending.

The early stage of the strategy involves the development of some important measures to deter risky behaviour on our roads. Announcements will be made in the months following the release of this document on what measures we will introduce, and what they are expected to achieve.

Building on past success

Figure 2. How the engineering, education and enforcement effort has contributed to our road safety achievements since 1990. Road and vehicle engineering contribute a steady ongoing improvement; education supports and persuades; enforcement deters past and potential risk–takers. Without this effort, traffic growth would have pushed the death rate up to around 900 a year.
EXAMPLES OF ENGINEERING Crash Reduction Study Programme Skid resistance programme (SCRIM) Roadside clear zones Median barriers on busy motorways Frontal impact systems (including safety belts, airbags)	EXAMPLES OF EDUCATION Targeted road safety advertising Graduated driver licensing RoadSense — Ata Haere in schools Community road safety programmes
EXAMPLES OF ENFORCEMENT Compulsory breath testing Speed cameras Roadside vehicle impoundment Highway Patrol

Our past progress has been built on:

• ambitious vision and targets
• engineering, education and enforcement programmes that use world’s best practice in an integrated and mutually supportive effort
• multi–agency road safety partnerships
• broadening responsibility for road safety programmes to include local partners and stakeholders
• intensive public education advertising to support important safety initiatives sustainable funding sources and rigorously justified investment
• monitoring and measuring our performance through evaluation and peer review of programmes after implementation.

Past success — engineering

Highlights over the past decade from ongoing safety engineering programmes include:

• low cost engineering improvements at over 2,000 crash black spots resulting in a 50 percent drop in fatal crashes at those sites
• skid resistance programmes. An example of what can be achieved by safety resurfacing work is the Petone overbridge, north of Wellington. Since the high friction skid resistant surface was applied, there have been only two injury crashes, compared with more than one every week before resurfacing
• a requirement for median barriers on all motorways exceeding 20,000 vehicles a day. This has saved an average of three lives a year on the Auckland Harbour Bridge alone
• 35 percent of the overall state highway spend has been based on safety benefits
• a steady improvement in vehicle safety standards
• the accelerated introduction of frontal impact standards for vehicles to save more lives earlier
• the Crash Reduction Programme targeting hazardous locations (see Figure 3 below)
• major state highway works including construction, four–laning and passing lanes
• minor state highway works including mitigating obstacles, vegetation clearance, clear zones, and improved road markings, signage and visibility at intersections
• joint venture traffic monitoring with territorial authorities in Auckland, including 24–hour coverage of traffic over the Auckland network.

Figure 3. The number of crashes after low cost safety engineering work is compared with the number of crashes that would have been expected
without the work being carried out.
Source: Land Transport Safety Authority Joint Crash Reduction Study Programme.

Past success — education and enforcement

Education and enforcement efforts have also contributed to our progress (see Figure 4). Other highlights over the past decade have included:

• a major reduction in alcohol–related deaths from 318 in 1990 to 102 in 2002
• a 25 percent reduction since 1999 in unlicensed and disqualified drivers involved in crashes.

Maintaining this progress also depends on central and local government and communities taking the kind of actions that will keep up momentum and consolidate our gains. For example, in 2000 the government introduced the Highway Patrol, a move that had an immediate and positive effect. In each year between 1996 and 1999, an average of 515 people were killed on our roads (the lowest figure was 501 in 1998). Having an additional 225 Police officers on the road led to a 24 percent reduction in fatal crashes on New Zealand’s state highways between 1999 and 2002. Total road deaths fell to 462 in 2000, 455 in 2001 and 404 in 2002.

Figure 4. Major enforcement and education interventions, and casualty reductions 1990–2002.
Source: Land Transport Safety Authority

Note: S(A)P is the Safety (Administration) Programme, otherwise known as the New Zealand Road Safety Programme; CBT refers to compulsory breath testing; SRSP refers to the Supplementary Road Safety Programme which introduced a
hard–hitting advertising campaign in support of targeted enforcement.

Where we are now

In 2002, road crashes caused 404 deaths and 6,670 hospitalisations, at an estimated social cost of around $3 billion (in June 2002 prices).²

This performance is not as good as that of some other countries. For example, in 2001³ New Zealand had 11.8 deaths per 100,000 population compared with 8.9 in Australia and 6.0 in the United Kingdom. We have been catching up fast (see Figure 5) but the current level of deaths and injuries remains unacceptable.

Figure 5. Road trauma: international comparisons indexed to 1970.
Source: International Road Traffic and Accident Database, Bundesanstalt für

Part of a broader set of government goals

This road safety strategy connects with wider government goals through the New Zealand Transport Strategy.

The government’s transport vision is that ‘by 2010, New Zealand will have an affordable, integrated, safe, responsive and sustainable transport system’. Within an overall sustainable development framework, we have established five objectives that, if achieved, will enable transport to play a major part in helping New Zealand benefit from the available economic, social and environmental opportunities.

These objectives are:

• assisting economic development
• assisting safety and personal security
• improving access and mobility
• protecting and promoting public health
• ensuring environmental sustainability.

Each one needs to be considered and progressed together or in parallel with the others, rather than in isolation.

Theme: Integrating safety into the transport system A more systemic approach to transport management should build safety in, not add safety on. Safety should be considered in all transport decisions and designed into our infrastructure. This means our road network should be designed, and our land–use planning done, in a way that challenges the acceptability of road deaths and serious injuries, and accommodates the safety needs of all users — pedestrians, cyclists, public transport users and motorists.

Current thinking on road safety already re.ects this integrated approach. For example, improving pedestrian and cyclist safety by reducing vehicle speeds and providing better facilities (as promoted in this strategy) will:

• assist safety and personal security
• address access and mobility issues for non–motorised users
• address public health issues through better exercise opportunities
• address environmental sustainability by supporting non–polluting modes of transport.

In the same way, speed management will support the achievement of energy efficiency and conservation goals, and successfully managing the demand for car and public transport use will support safety goals.

The New Zealand Transport Strategy identifies transport’s contribution to the following government strategies:
Growing an Innovative New Zealand, the New Zealand Tourism Strategy, the New Zealand Health and Disability Strategies, the Positive Ageing Strategy and the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy.

As well as contributing to a range of broader government goals, Road Safety to 2010
will directly contribute to two other government strategies:
• Injury prevention: the New Zealand Injury Prevention Strategy’s vision is ‘a safe New Zealand — becoming injury free’. The strategy identi.es road crashes as one of six priority areas and Road Safety to 2010 as the avenue for addressing it.
• Crime reduction: one of the Crime Reduction Strategy’s priority goals is ‘to reduce serious traffic offending’. This will be addressed through Road Safety to 2010.

The successful implementation of Road Safety to 2010 will continue to rely on the joint efforts of the road safety partnership, in particular the member agencies of the National Road Safety Committee and the National Road Safety Advisory Group⁴. The National Road Safety Advisory Group consists of representatives from all member organisations of the National Road Safety Committee, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Te Puni Kokiri, Ministry of Paci.c Island Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs, New Zealand Automobile Association, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, Cycle Support New Zeal;and, Alcohol Advisory Council, School trustees Association, and a road safety co-ordinator representative.

Footnotes

1. Refer Road Safety Strategy 2010: A consultation document, and Safety directions working papers 6 and 7 (see Appendix 3)
2. The social cost of a crash is the measure of all costs that the crash inflicts on the community — on road users, emergency service providers
   and others. It includes not just the costs of material losses (such as medical treatment and property damage) but also pain and suffering.
3. 2001 is the latest year for which a full set of international comparisons is available.
4. See section on Co–ordination, page18

page top | next >

Page created: 17 October 2003