It's not the tourists: Road death toll virtually unchanged from 2019 despite border closures

Thursday, 31 December 2020

More than 300 people have died in car crashes this year, despite a record low number of deaths in April due to the Covid-19 lockdown (File Photo).

International tourists are often blamed for New Zealand’s woeful road deaths, but the road toll for 2020 tells a different story.

Despite no international visitors in the country for most the year, the road toll as of December 31 sits at 320 deaths, a total the Automobile Association labelled “sad and disappointing”.

It’s down from 350 deaths on our roads in 2019, However, the death toll is largely identical to last year once you factor in the month of April, which saw a massive decline in crashes due to the national Covid-19 lockdown.

Just nine people died on New Zealand roads in April, lower than any other month in the last 55 years.

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Overseas drivers were at fault in just 5 per cent of fatal crashes in 2019 (File Photo).

“Road deaths for the other 11 months of the year have been slightly more than 2019, which is a very sad and disappointing result,” AA Motoring Affairs general manager Mike Noon said.

“When Covid 19 first appeared and locked down the country there was some speculation that it may result in less deaths on the roads due to less driving taking place but this hasn’t ended up the case,” he said.

It was possible New Zealanders had been driving more than normal due to an increase in domestic tourism, though AA did not have official data to back this up.

Overseas drivers were at fault in just 5 per cent of fatal crashes in 2019, meaning the vast majority of dangerous driving offences are committed by Kiwis.

AA said it would be pushing the government to make a number of policy changes in 2021, including upgrading high-risk roads, changes to safety standard requirements, and increasing alcohol and drug testing.

“No one is a perfect driver and if people are honest, we could all find at least one thing to do better in 2021. For some drivers that might be making sure they keep a bigger following distance, for others it might be slowing their speed to the conditions, or it could be not using your phone behind the wheel or not carrying on driving when they are feeling tired,” Noon said.

The road toll for the Christmas-New Year period currently sits at nine, already equal to the number who died during the whole period in the 2019/20 Christmas-New Year holiday period.