Average speeds dropping, yet road toll increasing

[peasea]

I live within an hour's drive of Queenstown. One of NZ's main "holiday towns". About 80% of the traffic is to or from there ... holiday mode ... all year round.

And the volume of traffic is increasing ....

You have my sympathy. We were in Qt last week and it was just as I remembered it, a beautiful spot completely fucked by holiday makers. We hated every minute of our brief stay (en route to Glenorchy) and couldn't wait to get out of town. It's like a miniature Auckland only with campervans.

[peasea]

I note that the lower toll this holiday period was put down to such innovative road safety measures as making using a hand held phone illegal while driving.

So that was a major cause of accidents in holiday periods past,was it? Fucking wankers.

And that is why road safety in NZ only improves when people travel less and cars get better passive safety measures,Your Honour.

Yes, I noticed that, what tossers.

[James Deuce]

In 2008 we lost 8.6 people per 100,000 but back in 1973 we lost 27.9!! A lot has changed in a quarter of a century too; cars and bikes have got faster, way faster but things like air bags and crumple zones are doing their bit for car drivers (which, let's face it are the majority of road users) and social reaction to drinking and driving has also changed dramatically.

You can do what you like with statistics but the fact remains; per 100,000 the road toll is down.

That's the only statistic that is an absolute and the only one that should be used to draw any conclusions. Prior to the introduction of seatbelts and helmets, 3 times as many people were killed on NZ's roads. So the road toll would be 1200 per year given the same circumstances as 1973. Cars with no brakes, no power, no seatbelts and 14 people and a giant tent crammed in for the Summer holiday trip.

The bloody Gubbmint should be saying well done! Over the last 40 years youse fellas have had to cope with massive increases in traffic density, adapt to changing road layouts and usage while we slowly "upgraded" the congested nexii in each major city. Through all that along with changes to how society uses cars, you just about stopped drinking and driving, cut the road toll to a third of what it was (as a per capita rate) and traveled vastly greater distances every year. We banned cellphone usage in moving vehicles because you fellas asked for it, but we're not sure if it will change things. We'll let you know in 10 years.

We're very pleased with you.

Keep it up.

[Berries]

And in todays' news:

CRASH STATISTICS

Most common crash causes recorded since 2000 were:

1. Poor observation
2. Failing to give way/stop
3. Other (description used when the crash could not be properly categorised)
4. Poor handling
5. Speed
6. Alcohol
7. Poor judgement
8. Road factors.

If anyone is interested it what these groups actually mean, apart from the obvious ones, go here - http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/ro...ago/index.html and have a look at a 2009 report. The Appendix had a list of the crash codes that make up those groups together with a list of all the codes used on crash reports.

[peasea]

That's the only statistic that is an absolute and the only one that should be used to draw any conclusions. Prior to the introduction of seatbelts and helmets, 3 times as many people were killed on NZ's roads. So the road toll would be 1200 per year given the same circumstances as 1973. Cars with no brakes, no power, no seatbelts and 14 people and a giant tent crammed in for the Summer holiday trip.

The bloody Gubbmint should be saying well done! Over the last 40 years youse fellas have had to cope with massive increases in traffic density, adapt to changing road layouts and usage while we slowly "upgraded" the congested nexii in each major city. Through all that along with changes to how society uses cars, you just about stopped drinking and driving, cut the road toll to a third of what it was (as a per capita rate) and traveled vastly greater distances every year. We banned cellphone usage in moving vehicles because you fellas asked for it, but we're not sure if it will change things. We'll let you know in 10 years.


We're very pleased with you.

Keep it up.

With you 100%, but the chances of the Govt. saying anything positive about NZ drivers/riders are pretty slim. I'm glad I'm not the only one who can see through the statistics smoke screen.

[Mikkel]

Yeah - I did a defensive/advanced driving course years ago and the instructor said something like "I don't care how good you and your car is, if you go too fast around a corner you will fall off"

Me thinks he was right

Yep, it's the propaganda, that any speed above the posted speed limit is too fast, which is pissing people off. Just like there are plenty of places where doing the speed limit would be going way too fast... the opposite is also true.

And boy, didn't they bombard us with the "Yes, we're raising the speed limit but we're also going to strictly enforce it and woe betide anybody exceeding it"

Of course initially everybody thought "fair enough"

Quite a lot has happened in the years since. New fangled electronics like ABS and EPS. Airbags, seatbelt pre-tensioners, improved crumplezones, etc. Better tyres, generally higher specced brakes, more power, etc. Today's vehicles are much more capable than those made 25 years ago.

Certainly there has been a very large increase in traffic density.

Have there been any significant changes as to how driver education is being handled?

That's the only statistic that is an absolute and the only one that should be used to draw any conclusions. Prior to the introduction of seatbelts and helmets, 3 times as many people were killed on NZ's roads. So the road toll would be 1200 per year given the same circumstances as 1973. Cars with no brakes, no power, no seatbelts and 14 people and a giant tent crammed in for the Summer holiday trip.

The bloody Gubbmint should be saying well done! Over the last 40 years youse fellas have had to cope with massive increases in traffic density, adapt to changing road layouts and usage while we slowly "upgraded" the congested nexii in each major city. Through all that along with changes to how society uses cars, you just about stopped drinking and driving, cut the road toll to a third of what it was (as a per capita rate) and traveled vastly greater distances every year. We banned cellphone usage in moving vehicles because you fellas asked for it, but we're not sure if it will change things. We'll let you know in 10 years.

We're very pleased with you.

Keep it up.

A very good point. But there is one misconception - road safety is not about the individuals involved. Congratulating the road users on the fact that they crash less is erroneous. Road safety depends upon the regulations imposed. Sensible regulations, enforced in a sensible manner will provide better results than hard-line regulations enforced with righteous zeal or slack regulations enforced with leniency.

No matter how much road safety in NZ has improved over the last 40 years, there are absolutely no excuses as to why the number of accidents per passenger mile in NZ should be any higher than in any other western country. If anything it should be less considering the relatively low traffic density.

[Goblin]

or this....

I have long been a fan of "everyone" must spend 6 months to a year on a motorbike before they are elligible to apply for a car license anyway. That way, they learn a bit of traffic/road-reading skills or Darwins theory takes them out of the equation and the ones that do survive but couldn't even cope on a lightweight and highly manoueverable piece of machinery would never get to be incharge of tonnes of high velocity bike-buggering tin-tops!

Me too! A friend of mine has recently got into riding after 20 odd years driving a car only. She now has a whole new awareness and her driving has improved considerably.

One thing that bugs me riding the open roads lately is all these stupid "safety" billboards on the roadsides. Things like "Travelling too fast? Slow down! It's that simple." or "Distracted drivers cause crashes. It's that simple" I wonder how many will crash while reading stupid safety billboards?

[yungatart]

One thing that bugs me riding the open roads lately is all these stupid "safety" billboards on the roadsides. Things like "Travelling too fast? Slow down! It's that simple." or "Distracted drivers cause crashes. It's that simple" I wonder how many will crash while reading stupid safety billboards?

Or the one on the Napier -Taupo Rd on a left hand bend, quite clearly showing a car on a right hander..."Don't Cross the Centre Line"...great billboard...wrong place.

[Goblin]

Or the one on the Napier -Taupo Rd on a left hand bend, quite clearly showing a car on a right hander..."Don't Cross the Centre Line"...great billboard...wrong place.

Have seen that one too. Or the truckie one..."Check your log book" Hope they dont check them while driving.

Took my Tiny to W(h)anganui on the bike for Boxing Day and had a couple of moments on the road. On the Paraparas a silver mitzi came around a bend, all crossed up, well over the centre line straight towards us. Then on the way home, just heading into Turangi, a car was quite away ahead but I noticed him cross the centre line into our lane then suddenly swerve back into his own lane. As he went past I saw him reading a map.:slap:

[MSTRS:Me]

Don't panic. At least he wasn't on his cellphone...
He was likely only doing 80kph.
And he probably had his seatbelt on, too.

[scumdog]

Done some digging - apart from the drop in fatalities tha crash rate itself has dropped down here in this neck of the woods. (And no, the population hasn't dropped too!)