AA calls for driving culture change after highest King’s Birthday road toll in decade

A multifaceted approach is needed to lower the number of deaths on New Zealand roads, including a change in driving culture, the AA says.

Seven people died on New Zealand roads over the King’s Birthday holiday weekend, the highest number for the same period in a decade.

The road toll count officially ended at 6am today.

Five people died overnight yesterday, including three in an early morning crash on the Desert Road.

Automobile Association (AA) road safety spokesman Dylan Thomsen said the holiday weekend showed “how a few little moments can destroy people’s lives”.

Recent AA research showed around half of fatal crashes involved “reckless and extreme behaviour” such as drink driving and speeding, while the rest were people following the rules who made mistakes at the wrong time, he told Newstalk ZB.

“For me, that research really shows how we can’t just focus on fatal crashes as being about the people not wearing seatbelts, driving drunk, driving ridiculously.

“Yes, that is a big chunk of the problem, but also we need to focus on everyday driving and recognise that there’s actually a lot of things we could all do better.”

New Zealand has a “long way to go” to improve its driving culture and get motorists to take getting behind the wheel more seriously, Thomsen said.

“It’s about building that culture right from the start when people are learning to drive that we do take this seriously, that following the rules matter and staying up to date with rules and driving behaviour is really important.

“We think that when people renew their licences, we could actually be looking at some refreshers around road rules and safe behaviour.”

Harsher fines and punishments for breaking road rules could also help encourage better driving behaviour, he said.

The improvement of New Zealand’s road network to make it safer could reduce fatalities when accidents happen, Thomsen added.

The previous highest King’s Birthday road toll was in 2016, when 11 people died.

Last weekend’s seven holiday deaths brought 2026’s total road death count to 149.

Director of road policing Superintendent Steve Greally yesterday said the five overnight deaths were “absolutely gutting”.

“We are thinking of their families today, while they deal with the awful reality that their lives will never be the same.”

In the Desert Road crash, three people were found dead at the scene, while two further people suffered serious injuries.

Another person was unaccounted for but was later found.

Other crashes that contributed to the toll were on Waiheke Island and in Wairākei, Allanton and Taupō.