Steven Joyce
1 April, 2010
Stay safe on the roads this Easter weekend
Transport Minister Steven Joyce is reminding road-users to take care on the roads over the Easter break.
"Holiday weekends mean a lot of extra traffic on the roads. Please use common sense and be mindful of other road users," he says.
The Official Easter holiday period runs from 4.00pm today until 6.00am on Tuesday 6 April.
Last year over the Easter holiday period 7 people died on our roads and 191 were injured.
The current provisional road toll for 2010 stands at 101 - 4 lower than at the same time last year.
The government continues to work on improving New Zealand's road safety through its Safer Journeys road safety strategy to 2020.
"We are currently working to progress measures for improving the safety of younger drivers and reducing the impact of alcohol on our road toll. But to make significant progress in reducing the level of death and injury on New Zealand's roads we all need to take responsibility for road safety."
"Stay alert, drive to the conditions and don't take risks. A little commonsense will go a long way to ensuring this is a safe and happy Easter.
Easter Holiday Period Crash Statistics
|
The Official Easter holiday period for 2010 begins at 1600 Thursday 1 April and ends at 0600 hours Tuesday 6 April |
- Over Easter weekend 2009 there were 6 fatal crashes and 125 reported injury crashes. These crashes resulted in 7 deaths, 31 serious injuries and 160 minor injuries.
- The 7 deaths included:
|
2 |
Drivers |
||
|
2 |
Passengers |
||
|
2 |
Motor Cycle Riders |
||
|
1 |
Pedestrian |
- About half of the fatal and injury crashes reported during the Easter weekend occurred on the open road.
- Forty-three percent of crashes were single vehicle crashes in which a driver lost control or ran off the road, 23% were intersection collisions, 17% were rear end crashes or collisions with obstructions (such as parked vehicles), 6% were head-on collisions, 3% involved collisions with pedestrians, 3% were overtaking crashes and another 5% were manoeuvring.
- Drivers losing control (34% of crashes), inattention (25%), alcohol (22%), failing to give way (21%) and travelling too fast for conditions (19%) were the most common driver factors contributing to crashes.
Historical since 1980
|
|
Year |
Deaths |
Injuries |
|
|
1980 |
15 |
213 |
||
|
1981 |
5 |
248 |
||
|
1982 |
13 |
240 |
||
|
1983 |
11 |
285 |
||
|
1984 |
15 |
258 |
||
|
1985 |
9 |
291 |
||
|
1986 |
15 |
254 |
||
|
1987 |
19 |
254 |
||
|
1988 |
12 |
283 |
The tolls for 2003, 2002 and 1998 were the lowest since the first available records for holiday periods in 1956. The previous lowest total was 4 deaths recorded in 1959. The highest recorded number killed is 21 which was recorded in 1971. |
|
|
1989 |
16 |
214 |
||
|
1990 |
17 |
237 |
||
|
1991 |
12 |
238 |
||
|
1992 |
12 |
185 |
||
|
1993 |
11 |
165 |
||
|
1994 |
10 |
228 |
||
|
1995 |
9 |
192 |
||
|
1996 |
7 |
229 |
||
|
1997 |
6 |
218 |
||
|
1998 |
3 |
176 |
||
|
1999 |
7 |
145 |
||
|
2000 |
6 |
134 |
||
|
2001 |
4 |
161 |
||
|
2002 |
3 |
214 |
||
|
2003 |
3 |
190 |
||
|
2004 |
4 |
170 |
||
|
2005 |
9 |
209 |
||
|
2006 |
5 |
170 |
||
|
2007 |
6 |
202 |
||
|
2008 |
9 |
195 |
||
|
2009 |
7 |
191 |
Crash statistics for the Easter holiday period are also available at www.transport.govt.nz
