Hon Michael Woodhouse
Associate Minister of Transport

4 June 2013

Minister praises zero road toll

Associate Transport Minister Michael Woodhouse is thanking all road users for playing a strong hand in the zero road toll for Queen’s Birthday weekend.

“This is the first zero road toll for Queen’s Birthday since records began in 1956, and it’s down to road users who drove to the conditions and took their time to get to and from their destinations safely,” says Mr Woodhouse.

The previous lowest Queen’s Birthday road toll was 1 in 2011 and the first ever zero road toll for any holiday period was Easter 2012.

“There’s no doubt there were some testing driving conditions over the weekend, with some places experiencing snow and ice. The main centres experienced congestion typical of holiday periods, and I join with Police in praising the patience of road users navigating these conditions.”

The 2013 year-to-date road toll is also improving over previous years. The 2013 road toll at 3 June was 108 compared with 124 in 2012 and 122 in 2011.

“This is encouraging news but too many people are still being killed and injured on our roads. We must all play a strong part in improving road safety in New Zealand.

"The government will continue to work hard through Safer Journeys to create a safe road system increasingly free of death and serious injury. Road users can play their part by continuing the safer driving behaviour that lead to a zero road toll over Queen’s Birthday weekend."

For historical road toll information visit: www.transport.govt.nz/research/Pages/Annualroadtollhistoricalinformation.aspx

ENDS

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