In 2010 the government launched Safer Journeys, New Zealand’s road safety strategy to 2020 Safer Journeys established a vision for New Zealand of “a safe road system increasingly free of death and serious injury” and adopted the Safe System approach. The Safe System approach creates a platform for innovation in improving road safety, enjoys widespread support and is consistent with leading road safety thinking internationally The National Road Safety Committee (NRSC) is satisfied that Safer Journeys and the strategic framework it sets out are the best approach to deliver improved road safety outcomes for New Zealand The Safer Journeys fist actions and fist action plan (2011- 2012) have made good progress toward achieving the strategy’s goals, contributing to a 20 percent decrease in road deaths between 2009 and 2012. Three-quarters of the 108 actions in the first action plan are completed or embedded, and the other actions will be carried forward into the second action plan The first actions in 2010 focused particularly on young drivers, and has been followed by a 38 percent reduction in deaths since 2009 for people aged 15—24. The first actions were followed by the 2011—12 Action Plan, which had a broad scope and contributed to improvements across many areas of the system, such as significant reductions in fatal and serious road crashes amongst motorcyclists and high-risk drivers. There have also been some improvements in heavy vehicle safety, and the safety of our roads and roadsides2 Even with these encouraging improvements, we must maintain our focus We are still a long way from our vision of a safe road system increasingly free of death and serious injury Vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) are predicted to increase and this will potentially increase road crashes A sense of urgency and a focused effort on addressing the difficult causes of road trauma is required to reduce the level of deaths and serious injuries. Areas of concern in Safer Journeys where we are making less progress include speed and alcohol related casualties Although the uptake of safer new vehicles has increased markedly (by November 2012, 71 percent of all new light vehicles sold were five-star ANCAP rated), the average age of the vehicle fleet has actually increased from 12.5 to 13.2 years since 2009 To improve these areas we need to apply the Safe System approach to make our transport system more accommodating of human error and vulnerability, and this action plan contains initiatives to continue the move toward a Safe System The Safer Journeys strategy and this action plan are a guide for local communities, private companies and other organisations as well as for government at all levels. (Author/publisher)
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