Hon Julie Anne Genter

Associate Minister of Transport

17 July 2019

PĀNUI PĀPĀHO

MEDIA STATEMENT

The Government is seeking feedback on a road safety plan that aims to prevent 750 deaths and 5,600 serious injuries on New Zealand roads over the next 10 years.

“Most roads deaths and serious injuries are preventable and too many New Zealanders have lost their lives or been seriously injured in crashes that could have been prevented by road safety upgrades,” said Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter.

“This plan adopts the world-leading Vision Zero approach to road safety – which applies the principle that no one should be killed or seriously injured on our roads.

“We do not expect to eliminate road deaths overnight but we can, over time, improve our roads so that simple mistakes do not result in devastating consequences.

“To drive real action from central and local government we are proposing to set a target to reduce annual deaths and serious injuries by 40 percent by 2030 (compared to the 377 people killed last year).

“If achieved, this would prevent 750 deaths and 5,600 serious injuries on New Zealand roads over the next 10 years.

“The new target would be achieved primarily by increasing investment in road safety infrastructure over the next decade.

“We are taking a balanced approach to making our roads safer – investing significantly more in safety improvements, increasing safe driving messages and investigating lower speed limits only on the most dangerous roads in the country.

“Already this Government is investing a record $1.4 billion over three years to upgrade over 3,300km of our most dangerous roads. This plan proposes greater investment in proven safety upgrades like median barriers, roundabouts and safe cycling infrastructure.

“Drivers also have to do better, and we’re investing more in driver training and education, with new programmes targeted at helping younger drivers get their license and develop safe driving skills.

“As part of taking a balanced approach to road safety we are also proposing to:

make it easier for local government to review speed limits
improve the safety of vehicles entering the fleet
include a new focus on work-related road safety
prioritise road policing to tackle high risk behaviours; and
improve the safety of footpaths and cycleways,” Julie Anne Genter said.

Editor’s note:
Consultation will run for four weeks and close on 14 August.
For more information: www.transport.govt.nz/zero
Video explaining the Road to Zero approach: link

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