The official Labour weekend holiday period spans Friday 4pm to Tuesday 6am, with an increase in people on the roads as they head out of town for the long weekend. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
More than 500 people are injured on New Zealand roads every Labour Weekend, according to new figures from ACC.
Figures from the past five years showed, on average, there were more than four road-related injury claims every hour.
The official holiday period spans Friday 4pm to Tuesday 6am, with an increase in people on the roads as they head out of town for the long weekend.
The cost of helping people recover from their injuries over the past five years was $15.17 million, split between 2549 separate claims.
ACC injury prevention leader James Whitaker said people could make bad decisions when tired or in a rush, and urged people to leave plenty of time to get to their destination.
ACC injury prevention leader James Whitaker. Photo: ROHANJBK / Supplied
"It's more important to get to your destination a little behind schedule than to not get there at all," Whitaker said.
People aged 20-24 lodged the highest number of claims every year.
New claims fell from 632 in 2018 to 406 last year, and the total cost halved, from $3.4m to $1.7m.
"ACC is here to support you if you get injured, but we'd prefer if these injuries didn't occur in the first place," Whitaker said.
ACC is one of several agencies involved in the government's Road to Zero campaign, which sets a target of reducing annual road-related deaths and serious injuries by 40 percent by 2030.
Whitaker said there were several things drivers could do to stay safe - keep a following distance of at least two seconds, avoid distractions and sunstrike, take regular breaks, and do not be tempted to drive for long periods because of the extended daylight hours.