Thus far this 12 months 268 individuals have died on the roads, down from 292 final 12 months – which was the bottom quantity since 2013.
Director of highway policing Superintendent Steve Greally mentioned any dying on the roads was a tragedy with widespread ripples, however it was good to see numbers headed down.
“We’re very inspired up to now this 12 months and after we take into consideration the summer season interval up to now no one has misplaced their lives, in contrast with 15 individuals on the finish of the interval final 12 months.
“So issues are trying actually good, actually encouraging, however something can occur at any time, so we have now to be actually cautious about that.”
He mentioned drivers have to proceed to deal with 4 key areas – sporting seatbelts or helmets, not driving whereas impaired by medicine, alcohol or tiredness, not being distracted by telephones or different issues within the automobile, and guaranteeing their velocity was appropriate for the circumstances.
NZTA spokesperson Mark Owen mentioned one other tip was for individuals to go to its Journey Planner webpage for detailed details about their deliberate route.
He mentioned individuals can examine when roads are anticipated to be busiest based mostly on earlier years.
“Discover out when the expected busy occasions are. That is usually as we get to the top of the vacations and individuals are heading again to the primary centres, and extra in the direction of the center of the day. In case you are travelling at these occasions you’ll undoubtedly want to permit extra time, or possibly attempt to depart a bit earlier or later within the day.”
He mentioned individuals are additionally inspired to make sure they’re effectively rested earlier than an extended drive, take common breaks on the journey, and drive to the circumstances.
“We’re seeing a little bit of difficult climate coming throughout the North Island the subsequent couple of days. So individuals want to permit to drive to these circumstances particularly whether it is slightly moist or windy.
“We would like everybody to return from their holidays again to their authentic vacation spot safely.”
