Safer Journeys: Making our roads safer

Transport Minister Steven Joyce today released a new ten year strategy designed to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads over the next decade.


The strategy - Safer Journeys - takes a system wide approach by looking at the safety of roads, road users, vehicles and speed. This approach is world best practice but a first for New Zealand.


"In recent years, there have been some major gains in road safety - the road toll has more than halved since its peak in 1973, while at the same time kilometres travelled have more than doubled," says Mr Joyce


"But despite these gains, hundreds of New Zealanders are killed and thousands injured on our roads every year, mostly in preventable crashes. Safer Journeys is a step towards improving the safety of our roads.


The top priorities for action in the strategy are:

• Young drivers
• Alcohol and drug impaired drivers
• Motorcycling
• Roads and roadsides
• Safer speeds

Mr Joyce says these areas were chosen as priorities because they are problem areas where real gains can be made.


"Some of the proposed actions represent significant change - raising the driving age, zero blood alcohol limits for young drivers and repeat drink drivers, introducing alcohol interlock technology and making changes to our give way rules.


"We need this change if we are to benefit from a road system with fewer deaths and injuries.


"The Safe System approach depends on us all taking responsibility for road safety. The roads belong to all of us, and in developing Safer Journeys views were sought from all New Zealanders.


"This feedback was considered alongside evidence and research in selecting the road safety actions outlined in the strategy.


"The government will be working to improve road safety and to implement the actions in this strategy, but all New Zealanders have a role to play if we are to lift our performance and make our roads safer," says Mr Joyce.


Over the coming months, the Minister will take a series of action plans to Cabinet to confirm and detail policy changes. The first two of these will cover young drivers (to Cabinet in March) and drink driving (April).


The Safer Journeys strategy, Questions and Answers, and a table of first actions are available at www.saferjourneys.govt.nz