Easter holiday road toll second lowest on record

The provisional Easter holiday road toll stands at four – the equal second lowest on record, according to the Land Transport Safety Authority.

The official Easter holiday period ended at 6am this morning.

Last Easter six people died on New Zealand roads. The worst ever Easter holiday period since the first available records in 1956 was in 1971 when 21 people died. The lowest Easter toll was in 1998 when three people died.

“The four deaths this year happened from two crashes within the first 18 hours so it wasn’t a good start,” LTSA spokesman Craig Dowling said.

“With weather conditions forecast to be poor we feared the worst but motorists in general behaved responsibly. It shows what can be achieved when travellers plan their driving trips carefully, make sure their vehicles are in safe condition and they heed the key safety messages of keeping their speed down and not mixing drinking and driving.”

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