'Going backwards': 19 killed on roads over summer break

The number of deaths on the road this summer shows road safety in New Zealand going backwards, the Automobile Association says.

Transport groups are urging drivers to still take extra care as the holidays draw to a close.

Ninteen people have died on the roads over the Christmas New-Year period, with the official toll coming to an end Wednesday morning.

AA road safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen said five years ago the number of road deaths over the holiday period could be counted on both hands, but that had changed.

"This holiday period and the last one have been up back around that sort of 20 number. So it's really sad and frustrating to see things not going the way we want in terms of New Zealand," he said.

"We want to see road safety improving, we want to see less people dying on the roads, and unfortunately in the last few years we seem to have gone backwards."

Last year, there were 21 deaths over the holiday period.

Thomsen said AA's research into fatal crashes found half of them involved ordinary, safe drivers, who had made a mistake.

He warned drivers to not get complacent, particularly when the roads were the busiest and there was less room for error over holidays.

"I think a lot of people still really think of fatal crashes as only involving people who are driving drunk, or drugged, or don't have a licence, or are driving ridiculously fast and dangerously- and there is some of that absolutely. But fatal crashes can happen to good drivers as well," he said.

Duty minister Shane Jones said much of the "carnage" on the roads was due to "people driving whilst they're under the influence, and not enough Kiwis using safety belts".

There needed to be consequences for driver behaviour before it turned fatal, he said.

Road policing director, Superintendent Steve Greally, told Morning Report police had doubled their enforcement efforts in the past year, including breath screening.

Road-related deaths in 2023 reached 343, a slight drop from 372 the year before.

Greally said deaths had trended down since the 1980s, helped by better roads and safer vehicles, but that the toll was still too high.

Northland and Waikato saw a number of crashes this holiday season..

Northland Road Safety Trust manager Ashley Johnston said the region had a high road toll that was heading in the wrong direction.

She said poor driving decisions were having devastating consequences.

"In Northland we have a really, really high rate of people not wearing their seatbelts in our fatalities and serious crashes," she said.

"Our people are actually dying as a result of their behaviour on the roads. It's a heartbreaking story and there's a lot of families that won't be having loved ones with them through the summer period."

Johnston wanted to see greater enforcement of laws around drink-driving, drug use and not wearing seatbelts.

In Waikato, police issued a warning about traffic congestion in the region, and said they were getting a high number of calls about speeding drivers.

Waikato District Mayor Jacqui Church said traffic levels in the district were already well above long term projections, and that could cause problems.

"For the state highway, people who drive through our district are actually at the volumes of 2032. So we're well over ten years ahead in terms of the percentage of people driving through Waikato District Council's express way to go to their destinations north or south," she said.

Church said roadworks often took place during summer because they required warmer weather, and urged drivers to be patient.

She said any death on the road was a terrible tragedy.

Official holiday road toll deaths

• A person died after a vehicle fled from a police checkpoint on Beach Road, in Whangārei on 22 December.
• A person died after a single-vehicle crash on Te Ahu Ahu Road, Waimate North, on 23 December.
• Wenxuan Li, 22, from Auckland, died in a crash on State Highway 32, on Whakamaru Road in the Bay of Plenty on 23 December.
• A person died after a crash between a car and motorbike on State Highway 25 at the 25A turnoff on the Coromandel Peninsula between Hikuai and Whangamatā on 23 December.
• A driver died in a single-vehicle crash on the Methven Highway in Ashburton on Christmas Day.
• A person died after a crash on Birchs Road in Prebbleton, Canterbury, on Boxing Day.
• A woman died after a quad bike accident in Marokopa at Rauparaha Street. Witnesses reported seeing a person come off a quad bike on 27 December.
• Brayden Tawa, 27, from Papamoa, died after a crash at the intersection of Aerodrome Road and Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui, on 27 December.
• A person died after a single-vehicle crash on State Highway 69 at Inangahua, in the Buller District on 28 December.
• Josephine Wilson, 28, and Piripi Chase, 31 died after a crash on State Highway 29 in Lower Kamai between a truck and car on 28 December.
• A person died in a single-vehicle crash about 10km east of Russell on 29 December.
• Babe Wihongi, 35 and Patrick Anngow, 55, both from Linwood, died after a crash on Tunnel Road in Christchurch, on 30 December.
• A person died after a car travelling on Te Puru Creek Road in Coromandel crashed into the water on 30 December.
• A person died after a vehicle rolled on State Highway 30 at Okataina, east of Rotorua on 1 January.
• A motorcyclist died after a crash at Tauhei, north of Hamilton on 2 January. Witnesses saw the rider come off a bike while rounding a corner on Tainui Road.
• A person died after a car hit a power pole and crashed into the water in a single-car crash near Russek Road in Coromandel, on 2 January.
• A six-month-old baby died after a ute rolled on Waimā Valley Road in South Hokianga on 2 January.