Source: Radio New Zealand
Brake NZ director said improving the overall transport system was also key to reducing accidents. RNZ / Andrew McRae
A road safety charity says the number of fatal crashes is declining, but not fast enough.
Brake NZ says car accidents remain a major cause of injury and death, with recent data showing almost half of all major trauma cases involve cars.
The charity was spearheading ‘Road Safety Week,’ urging greater awareness of the risks of driving and a call to action for infrastructure improvements.
“Road safety is something that affects all of us year round and it is something we can sometimes become a bit complacent with,” Brake NZ’s director Caroline Perry said.
“For many of us we drive on a regular basis, we use roads on a regular basis, and so one of things Road Safety Week aims to do is keep raising that awareness again and putting road safety at front of people’s minds.”
In 2025, 272 people died on the road. That was down from 291 in 2024.
“It’s certainly an improvement in the short term, but we also need to look at the long term trends and we’re still not making the sorts of gains we would like to see in terms of road safety so there’s still a way for us to go,” Perry said.
“Data that comes from the National Trauma Network highlights that crashes are a significant cause of major trauma for us, crashes account for almost half of all major trauma cases.”
She outlined steps drivers could take to reduce the risk of a serious or fatal crash.
“There are things we can all do as road users, remembering simple things like ensuring everyone is wearing a seatbelt, driving sober, keeping below speed limits and not using your phone at the wheel,” she said.
“But we also need to keep improving our overall transport system as well, including things like improving our roads and roadsides, safety of vehicles, and having safe speed limits as well.”
Improvements on a systemic level had been helpful, she said.
“We’ve seen things like increased enforcement in drink driving, and the rollout of roadside drug testing, which can all help to improve safety, but it’s still a long journey,” Perry said.
“Every death on the road is a tragedy and one death is too many. As an organisation that supports people who’ve been affected by crashes, we see the devastating consequences they have.”
“It’s a life changing experience for a family, it isn’t just a short term consequence, whether it’s someone never coming home again or a life-changing injury that requires ongoing rehabilitation.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand