The quickest way to save lives on the road is to reduce the speed limit

Paul Durdin is technical director – transportation engineering and a board member for road safety consultancy Abley.

OPINION: This week is Road Safety Week, and a timely reminder of our deadly road safety problem.

Over the past five years, an average of seven people were killed on New Zealand roads every week, and another 46 were seriously injured.

Since the beginning of this year alone, more than 120 people have lost their lives in crashes on our roads.

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Our road safety performance is abysmal in an international context.

On a per capita basis, three times more people die in road crashes in New Zealand than the best performing European countries, such as Norway and Sweden.

The death rate is 50% higher than countries we should be comparable to, like our trans-Tasman cousins and Canada. We do perform better than the United States, but that’s a very low bar and not something we should consider a success.

So what is the answer to solving our road safety crisis? The debate rolls on, in government and the court of public opinion, about how best to target this harrowing issue.

The discourse grows not only in the aftermath of fatal crashes, but also when our transport agencies promote safety initiatives that are new and challenge our existing behaviours and beliefs.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on road safety, and there are lots of myths and misconceptions thrown around in public debate.

Many people, including some prominent commentators in the media, are quick to play the blame game citing poor driver behaviour as both the cause and solution to our issues.

There is some truth in that; however, the reality is that most high-severity crashes involve law-abiding people who simply make a mistake.

A study by the AA Research Foundation found that deliberately reckless behaviour, such as driving drunk or at extreme speeds, was a factor in 49% of the fatal crashes studied and 29% of serious injury crashes.

This shows that changing driver behaviour is important, but is only part of the solution.

Others blame the nature and quality of our roads. Again, there is some truth in that too.

The AA study found that 41% of serious injury crashes involved a vehicle crossing the centreline on an undivided 100kmh road. Figures like that should come as no surprise given 90% of our state highway network is undivided (i.e, does not have a median barrier).

Very rarely is the blame directed to the other parts of our transport system, such as our speed limits or the safety of the vehicles we drive, despite both playing a big role in the severity of crash outcomes.

In 2019, Waka Kotahi launched the national road safety strategy “Road to Zero”, with an ambitious target of a 40% reduction in deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 2030.

The strategy is based on a system-wide approach that focuses on improving the safety of our road network through safer infrastructure, safer speeds, safer vehicles, better road user choices and overall management of the transport system.

If we are to achieve the 40% reduction target, then a step change is needed across all parts of the system. Incremental enhancements will not cut it. The evidence of interventions that work and those that don’t are well-established.

Take median barriers as an example. We know your likelihood of being involved in a fatal or serious injury crash on a high-speed road with no median barrier is nearly three times that of a road with a median barrier.

It is that evidence that is driving the delivery of some great transport infrastructure projects, like the Waikato Expressway, Transmission Gully and expanded motorway networks in and around Christchurch.

Existing roads are also being retrofitted with median barriers to make them safer, such as State Highway 2 Waipawa to Waipukurau, and SH58 over Haywards Hill. Whilst it would be amazing for our entire state highway network to be median-divided, the simple reality is we could not afford it. The cost would be astronomical.

That’s why the setting of safe speed limits is also needed. Again, the evidence is clear that lower speeds save lives.

In late 2020, lower speed limits were introduced on 120km of SH6 between Blenheim and Nelson. The 100kmh speed limits were replaced with a combination of 80 and 90kmh limits, as well as a 60kmh speed limit in the tortuous sections.

In the five-year period prior to the change in speed limits, 52 people were killed or seriously injured on that stretch of state highway – more than 10 people per year.

In the last two years (2021 and 2022), that number has decreased to five. Injury crash numbers had reduced too – down 35%.

Despite this sort of evidence, lower speed limits are still unpopular with many, especially when it comes to lowering speed limits on our rural roads.

I’m not exactly sure why this is. Perhaps it is the feeling of something being taken away, some loss of freedom, some loss of time?

Perhaps it is a feeling of change being imposed on everyone against a belief that road trauma is the fault of a few others – not me?

Whatever the reason or reasons, we need to do a better job in communicating with the public about the reasons for and the benefits of lower speed limits. Be direct, share the facts.

I find it strange that most people find it acceptable that our road network operates with relatively few safety mechanisms to protect users from death and serious injury.

Building regulations require balconies to have railings so you don’t fall and hurt yourself. You can’t even build a pool in New Zealand without it being fenced – because accidents happen, and we have to plan for that.

Many more people are killed or seriously injured on our roads than from falling off balconies or drowning in swimming pools.

So, why do we have such a blasé approach when it comes to our roads? The same doesn’t apply to our other transport networks like air and rail.

Just two weeks ago, the Wellington train network was crippled because KiwiRail had failed to complete scheduled track assessments, forcing trains to travel at significantly reduced speeds until the assessment deemed the tracks safe.

Road safety is about saving lives. If we know what works to save more lives on our roads, why aren’t we doing it?

The evidence is clear and the message is simple: reducing speed limits saves lives. It’s time to get on board and help all our families get home safely.