Our vision of a safe road system

Improving safety on our roads is a priority for the Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.  We work with the NZ Police, Ministry of Transport, local government, WorkSafe and others to deliver the New Zealand road safety strategy, Road to Zero 2020-2030.

Road to Zero strategy and action plan(external link)

The government has a Vision Zero approach of a New Zealand where no-one is killed or seriously injured in road crashes, and where no death or serious injury while travelling on our roads is acceptable.

The Road to Zero strategy builds on, and is guided by, the Safe System approach. It sets clear targets and measures to reduce road trauma.

The Safe System is the international gold standard in road safety. It recognises that people make mistakes and are vulnerable in a crash. It reduces the price paid for a mistake so crashes don't result in loss of life or limb. Mistakes are inevitable – deaths and serious injuries from crashes are not. To learn more about the Safe System approach watch our 20-minute video.

We apply the Safe System principles of:

• people make mistakes
• people are vulnerable
• we need to share responsibility
• we must strengthen all parts of the system.

Further guiding principles are introduced in Road to Zero to ensure that:

• our actions are grounded in evidence and evaluated
• our road safety actions support health, wellbeing and liveable places
• we make safety a critical decision-making priority.

We are working with partners to strengthen the system with actions in five key focus areas:

1. infrastructure improvements and speed management
2. vehicle safety
3. work-related road safety
4. road user choices
5. system management.