Police say New Zealand drivers “have done a fantastic job so far” this Easter but are warning people not to be complacent on the roads.
People have been seriously injured in road crashes this long weekend, but there have been zero fatalities so far, a rare occurrence.
“It’s a great thing when we don’t lose peoples’ lives on our roads; of course, that’s what we’ve been aiming for every day of the week,” National road policing manager Superintendent Steve Greally said.
“We’re not out of the woods yet; we’ve still got until 6am tomorrow morning for the official holiday period.”
The police officer said he was pleasantly surprised by the driving behaviour he saw on his personal travels this weekend, with no one overtaking him and people being patient on still vulnerable roads in the Hawkes Bay region.
Supt Greally said late last year, police implemented a change in having more staff positioned along roads where speeds are 80km/h or higher.
Automobile Association road safety spokesman Dylan Thomsen said while there’s always an element of luck, the situation this weekend reflects that people are driving more safely on the roads.
“You have to give drivers and everybody on the credit of the road for what's been going on,” he said.
“It's fantastic and rare, and it's actually bigger than just Easter; you could say this has been an amazing April so far. After nine days, we've only had one death in a crash on the roads.”
There were no deaths on New Zealand roads over Easter in 2012 and in 2020, when the country was in lockdown.
The country’s deadliest Easter on the roads was in 1971, when 21 people died.
People are being urged to drive safely on their way home from their travels and also beyond this long weekend.
“We've got tornadoes, we've got rain, we've got wind, we've got all sorts and a bit of sunshine too, so we want people to actually take that into account when they're making decisions about how they're going to drive their vehicle,” Supt Steve Greally said.
AA’s Dylan Thomsen said the lack of a road toll currently this weekend is an example of what’s possible.
“It shows that actually we don't have to have such a high road toll and as many people dying on the roads and that if we all play our part and drive a little safer…”
“People often focus on the really extreme, reckless things in terms of road safety, and they kind of think 'Oh well, I'm not speeding ridiculously fast, I'm not driving drunk, I'm wearing my seatbelt', but there's a lot of crashes that happen to ordinary people making little mistakes, and it starts with basically the attitude you take when you get into the car and just being switched on, being 100% focused on your driving,” he said.
Waka Kotahi said state highways in regions hit by Cyclone Gabrielle have held up well this weekend, with more people travelling on the roads.
‘There are still many damaged sites with restrictions in place on several routes, and we’re urging people to allow plenty of time for their journeys home, share the driving to avoid fatigue and be patient when traffic is heavy and there are delays,’ a spokesperson for the Government agency said.
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