Police say their focus on lowering speed is justified despite the holiday road toll.
With the Christmas Holiday period ending at 6am today, 16 people have died on New Zealand's roads in the 2014-2015 summer holidays. This compared with seven deaths last year, and six the year before.
This came despite a zero-tolerance campaign for speeding, which critics argued had done nothing to reduce the toll.
However, Assistant Police Commissioner in charge of roading Dave Cliff said international research from bodies such as the World Health Organisation showed lowering speed was critical.
He said the country should not lose sight of the improvements made.