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Road Safety Week: Auckland Transport Continues Work Towards Vision Zero Goal
As part of Road Safety Week this week, Auckland Transport (AT) is evaluating its work to make Tāmaki Makaurau a safer place for everyone.
A recently released report shows while progress has been made in some areas of road safety, there is still work to be done when it comes to achieving AT’s Vision Zero goal of zero deaths or serious injuries on the network.
The International Transport Forum Road Safety Annual Report 2020 provides an overview of road safety performance for 42 countries participating in the working group on road safety.
The report shows New Zealand recorded 377 road deaths in 2018, one less than in 2017.
The New Zealand death rate in 2018 was 7.7 deaths per 100, 000 people. The average in the European Union was 4.9 deaths per 100, 000 people in 2018.
The report says deaths by road type shows that the rural network is the deadliest. In 2018, 64 per cent of deaths occurred on rural roads, while 36 per cent occurred on urban roads.
In 2018, speed was a contributing factor in 102 fatal crashes out of a total 310.
Last year, AT’s board passed the Speed Limits Bylaw 2019. Its implementation on 30 June this year is one piece of the puzzle when it comes to fixing the road safety crisis.
This work followed AT adopting Vision Zero as its safety strategy and establishing the Tāmaki Makaurau Road Safety Governance Group to work closely with partners and key stakeholders.
Bryan Sherritt, AT’s Executive General Manager of Safety, says inappropriate speed is one of the main causes of road crashes in New Zealand.
“It’s simply unacceptable for anyone to lose their life or be injured on our network, so we are continuing to deliver a wide range of safety improvements to make it safer to travel on our roads - whether you are travelling in a car, in a truck, on a bike, by motorbike, or on foot.
“During lockdown, we observed an uptake of people using active modes to explore their neighbourhoods, so we will be continuing to make it easier and safer to walk and cycle in and around the city centre.
“Working with our road safety partners, like road safety charity Brake NZ, we aim to realise our Vision Zero goal of zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 2050.”
To see the full report: https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/new-zealand-road-safety.pdf
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