Road safety is a focus area of the 2015–18 National Land Transport Programme. It supports a sector-wide focus on creating a transport system increasingly free from death and serious injury.
Over the next three years, $3.2bn is being invested in road safety, which is around 23% of the total programme. This equates to an increased investment in safety of $550m compared to 2012–15.
The investment gives effect to the Government Policy Statement to improve road safety, embed the Safe System approach, and reduce deaths and serious injuries.
Improving safety across all four parts of the system – roads and roadsides, speeds, road use, and vehicles – is at the heart of the NZ Transport Agency’s commitment to reducing road trauma. The focus is on creating a more forgiving road system, where making a mistake on the road should not cost a life or cause serious injury.
Since 2009, the number of people killed or seriously injured, measured in terms of per kilometre travelled, has reduced significantly, albeit with some annual variations. This means there is a lower average personal risk of being killed, or seriously injured, while using our land transport networks.
To maintain the rate of progress, investment in the 2015–18 NLTP continues across all four parts of the Safe System targeted at risk. Many investment proposals work across multiple aspects.
Managing speed on the network continues to be a priority for the Transport Agency for 2015–18. The speeds people travel at are not always appropriate for the design, purpose and safety level of many of our roads.
Small reductions in speed can make a big difference. By 2019, the Transport Agency aims to reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths on high-risk roads by 135 (10%) and reduce social costs by $130m.
Road safety promotion programmes complement investment in infrastructure, regulatory change and road policing. They target road user behaviour through a range of approaches – incorporating education, promotion and advertising.
During the 2015–18 NLTP, $132m will be invested in road safety promotion activities, $67m in national activities by the Transport Agency and the balance, $65m, in local activities delivered by councils throughout the country.
The recommended allocation for road policing has increased by 6% to $960m in 2015–18. The programme is intended to give NZ Police greater flexibility to target resources to road safety risk. For 2015/16, $313m has been approved to target priorities.
The NZ Police programme gives priority to speed, alcohol and drug-impaired driving, restraints, high-risk drivers and dangerous driving, in line with the Safe System approach.
The Transport Agency is continuing to implement road and roadside improvements initiated in the previous Safer Journeys action plans, including high-risk intersections and rural roads.
A total of $1.3bn will be invested in improvements and maintenance.
Targeted investment is needed to make tangible safety gains. One example is the South Auckland to Tauranga via Waihi journey, which will have 67% of its investment targeting a reduction of 60 serious injuries and deaths within the next decade. The Whangarei to North Auckland journey will have 52% of its investment directed at safety benefits.
The regional improvements activity class invests in important roads outside the major urban areas to deliver better access to markets, improved resilience and a significant range of safety work. Of the $225m planned investment, 46% is targeted towards the delivery of safety benefits translating to 92 fewer serious injuries and deaths over 10 years.
Local authorities will be co-investing in around $4bn of local road maintenance and improvements with the Transport Agency.
The 2015–18 NLTP will see around $251m invested in cycling and walking, including funding from the Urban Cycleways Programme. It is estimated that between $350m and $400m will be invested in cycling in the three years to 2018. This also includes investment in cycling and walking facilities incorporated in state highway and local road projects, as well as projects outside the NLTP, such as the New Zealand Cycle Trail. This is aimed at improving walking and cycling infrastructure (both urban and rural) and support programmes such as cycle skills training, national guidelines for cycling infrastructure design and public education campaigns to promote sharing the road safely. The key recommendations of the Cycling Safety Panel Report from 2014 are embedded in this work.
The 2015–18 NLTP will continue to fund two national road safety promotion campaigns related to safer vehicles.
Rightcar(external link) encourages buyers to choose safer and more economical cars. A car with better safety features can reduce the risk of being in a crash and improve the chance of surviving one.
The ‘Check your car’ campaign encourages people to check their vehicles on a regular basis and seek expert advice if they are concerned about anything. The campaign focuses on simple steps vehicle owners can take to ensure their car is as safe as it can be.
NZ Police will continue with warrant of fitness and certificate of fitness enforcement as part of other activities.
The installation of 2.2 kilometres of median and roadside Barries in the Dome Valley has been completed in time for the Easter long weekend.
Burkes Pass is well known as the entrance to the Mackenzie District and the beginning of a scenic journey that takes people past the South Island’s hydro lakes.
The Community Driver Mentor Programme in Gisborne has been a great success story for the region. The programme is a significant safety initiative funded by the Transport Agency, the New Zealand AA, NZ Police and sponsors Chevron (Caltex) and Hyundai New Zealand.
The Innovating Streets programme launched in June 2020 to make it quicker and easier for councils to trial changes aimed at making streets safer, providing more travel choice and encouraging more people to travel in ways that are better for their health and the environment.
A number of organisations, including Auckland Transport and the Transport Agency, have teamed up with the Mangere–Otahuhu local board to fund an innovative community safety project called Te Ara Mua (Future Streets).
The 130 kilometre long Southern Coromandel loop is a magnet for motorcyclists. It combines breath-taking scenery with twisting roads and tight corners that really test a motorcyclist’s skill.
The CVSP takes a high-tech approach to help make our roads safer by directing heavy vehicles into a Commercial Vehicle Safety Centre (CVSC), where officers can safely carry out thorough inspections.
Returning Wood Street through Mangawhai Heads’ town centre to the community as a place for people to enjoy was the aim of the Kaipara District Council’s Innovating Streets trial.
Returning Wood Street through Mangawhai Heads’ town centre to the community as a place for people to enjoy was the aim of the Kaipara District Council’s Innovating Streets trial.
