Nobody Dies, Everbody Lives

By Teach

Kiwis went absolutely 'gaa gaa' mad over the Easter break. After 60 years of keeping records, we had zero deaths during any holiday break for the first time ever! New Zealand has a reputation for difficult roads, ever changing driving conditions, older vehicles (less safe) and poor driving standards but every man, woman and child who ventured onto a New Zealand road lived to tell the tale.

A shocking number of people die on New Zealand roads every year. The 2011 road toll was 284 deaths from a population of 4 million. The worst year on record was 1987 with 795 deaths. The good news is that the number has been dropping since 1987. The bad news is that the Easter holiday road toll has been climbing since 2003 (3 deaths) to a high of 12 deaths in 2010. No deaths at all this Easter is the best news of all.

NZ Road Toll 1951-2008

There are a number of possible reasons for such a fantastic Easter on the road. Acting national road policing manager Rob Morgan stated the number of police on the roads and better driver behaviour. The head of New Zealand's Automobile Association (AA) Brian Gibbons agrees. He also adds that a lot of work has been done to make our roads safer. Two examples are rumble strips, that wake dozing or distracted drivers, and centre 'line' barriers to prevent head on crashes.

Mr Gibbons points out that more could be done to educate drivers. Police and roading engineers have been a big part of bringing our shameful road toll down. Drivers also need to learn how we can make our roads safer.

In the meantime, I still shake my head and wonder about zero deaths. It is not only unheard of in my lifetime, and I'm a grandfather, but it was unheard of in my father's lifetime.

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