43 equestrians and horses pay their respect to the 43 lives lost whilst riding or driving a horse on New Zealand’s roads as part of Road Safety week 2025.

Recently obtained statistics by Pass Wide & Slow NZ (PWASNZ) have revealed the true extent of suffering on New Zealand roads and equestrians are determined to lead positive change.

PWASNZ is proud to be working with Waimakariri Riding Club to coordinate a special photo shoot to honour the many lives lost on our roads. This will be a powerful moment for our community and will visually highlight the huge loss of life on our roads.

“We know far more people have been killed than previously thought. Health New Zealand figures show Forty people aged between 10 and 79 years died whilst riding or driving a horse drawn vehicle on the road between 2000 and 2019. There is an even split between men and women,” says PWASNZ Founder Julia McLean

PWASNZ subsequently learned of a further three lives lost between 2022-2024 that currently sit with Worksafe New Zealand.

“Road safety is a collective responsibility and kotahitanga/ unity is key to leading change. We wish to acknowledge the aroha and respect shown by Waimakariri Riding Club members in preparing this photo to illustrate the equestrian community’s loss of life,” says McLean

“One death is one too many, but this degree of suffering is tragic. We feature in this country’s Road Toll and yet no authority has ever spoken of these statistics to inform road safety or enforcement improvements,” McLean says

Health NZ uses an internationally recognised coding system to record deaths and says these deaths are transport accidents and they may involve no collision, or could involve cycles and pedestrians, or trains, or even stationery objects.

Pass Wide & Slow New Zealand has been established to fill the void of no targeted Driver Education on how to approach and safely pass a horse and rider on the road.

“We know this important road safety message will save lives. We have launched a website https://www.passwideandslow.co.nz/ with resources, stakeholder and community support and are giving a voice to people who no longer need to suffer in silence. We are strongly advocating for enforcement and driver education improvements to improve road safety outcomes for this vulnerable group of people,” says McLean

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