Meg Collins

In December, New Zealand was on track for its lowest road toll in a decade.

The Ministry of Transport's provisional annual toll for 2024 sat at 291, well over 10 percent lower than the 341 deaths recorded on New Zealand's roads in 2023, and almost two-thirds down on the deadliest year of 843 in 1973 (this was the year my first husband died in a road crash).

The last time fewer than 300 road fatalities were recorded in a single year was 2014, when 292 people died.

AA spokesperson Dylan Thomsen said 2024 looked like a historic year for road safety.

"There's only been three times in the last 50 years that New Zealand has had less than 300 people killed on the roads and, on a per capita basis, we're looking at probably the lowest rate of road deaths in a century. So, this is really a historic year in terms of road safety in New Zealand. But at the same time, it's kind of ending on quite a sour note.” Mr Thomsen said.

But in spite of this result, the Government announced the reversal of speed limit reductions on a large number of New Zealand roads, including many in the northern regions of the country.

The move will result in speed limits being increased on 38 sections of key routes, including parts of State Highway 1 in Northland, SH16 near Auckland and SH3 in Hamilton. Also, on the list are changes to SH2 between Featherston and Masterton, and SH3 Whanganui.

Making the announcement in Wairarapa, where the speed limit increase will save drivers around three minutes on their journey, Transport Minister Chris Bishop said: “It all adds up - that is productivity and growth.”

A list of an additional 49 sections of roads is also being released for public consultation.

"We had a horrific start to the year last January with a really high number of people dying and then through most of the year we've had month after month of very few fatal crashes by New Zealand standards” Mr Thompson said. “And then at the end of the year, we've gone back up again and December has been a really horrific month, so it's been a historic year overall, but it's ending in a bad way."

It was too early to know for sure what was behind the drop in road deaths last year, but tough economic times and increased police enforcement were likely contributors, Thomsen said.

"We have seen a really big push by police last year in terms of enforcement, particularly around speed and drunk driving, and we think that it is likely to have made quite a difference and the economy and tougher times traditionally has to lower numbers of road deaths as well historically so we think that is probably playing a part," he said.

"And I'd like to think that maybe we're seeing some behaviour change with some people heeding some of those safety messages and making some better choices out on the roads."

There was still plenty of work to be done with New Zealandhaving one of the poorest road safety records among developed nations.

"From the AA's perspective, we definitely think that New Zealand should be having well under 300 people lose their lives every year - New Zealand is capable of that.

"Essentially, our road safety record is traditionally one of the worst in the developed world, and if we just had the same rate of road deaths as Australia, we would be having well less than 300 people die each year and I think we're capable of that.

"But it takes a combination of actions. We need to keep having the government doing work to improve the quality and the safety of the roads that people are travelling on. We need that sustained high level of police enforcement that we've seen over the last year - we need to keep on pushing that and making sure that we are out there, catching particularly the drunk drivers, drugged drivers and those really high-risk groups.

"And then it's really about people's own behaviour and we've got to just keep working on people, changing the culture around driving in New Zealand, and people actually taking it a bit more seriously and not treating it so casually."

The Government has now backtracked on some of its proposals especially in Nelson and Wairarapa, where local opposition has escalated to the raising the limit back to 100kmph. These areas had campaigned to lower the speed limit to 80kmph.

Meanwhile, in the Eastern Bay, Wainui Road, is totally unsuitable for a 100kmh limit, except on the Cheddar Valley flat road. The rest of the road to too winding and visibility is poor.

The main State Highway 35 route around the East Coast is also unsuitable for 100kmh for the same reasons, too winding and too narrow.

The other factor to consider is cost. To drive from 80 to 100kmph could cost you up to $10 more in fuel per 100km; probably more in larger vehicles.

Sorry Mr Bishop, I am happy to drive at 80kmh, and I will pull aside to let people who want to go faster.

I will probably get to my destination at the same time, as the cars who passed me get stuck behind trucks or road works.