Lowest road toll in more than 60 years

A big drop in the number of young people dying in road accidents has contributed to the lowest road toll in New Zealand for more than 60 years.

Road crashes are the single biggest killer of teenagers in the country. However, deaths among those aged between 15 and 24 was nearly 40% lower in 2013 than just four years ago.

The annual road toll for 2013 was 254, the lowest since 1950. There were 284 deaths in 2011 and 375 in 2010.

The Government says increasing the driving age to 16, a zero blood alcohol limit for drivers aged under 20, and better driver training for young people have all helped reduce the number of deaths on the roads.

Associate Transport Minister Michael Woodhouse said improved car safety features and better roads have not only helped bring down the road toll, but the number of road accident injuries are fewer also.

Mr Woodhouse said fast-developing road safety technology means a zero road toll in New Zealand could be a real possibility in the next 10 to 15 years.

"If you had asked me a year ago whether a zero road toll was possible, I would probably have said no. But what I now know about the technologies that are coming, and could be here within a generation, mean to me that a close to a zero road toll is possible and that's the direction we should be heading."

Mr Woodhouse said young drivers in particular are responding to road safety campaigns.

Police say more intense policing and raising the driving age have also helped lower the road toll.

Assistant Commissioner Dave Cliff said while the overall reduction in deaths is welcome news, there is no room for complacency and officers will continue to target speeding and drunk drivers in 2014.

The road toll for the Christmas-New Year holiday period, which ends at 6am on Friday, stands at six - the same number as for the entire holiday period in 2012.

The New Zealand Transport Agency says while 2013 had less than a third as many fatalities as the 843 people who died on the roads in 1973, it is not a cause for celebration. The agency said it should be a call to action to achieve its vision that no person is killed or seriously injured on the roads.