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We need to do better

A fortnight ago, I wrote in these pages about the fall in New Zealand’s road toll, from 843 deaths in 1973 to a provisional 271 last year. I thought it was an achievement worth celebrating.

But then my colleague Bryce Wilkinson and I put the same numbers beside those of 28 other countries. It puts this achievement into perspective.

On the harmonised World Health Organization series used in our report, which ends in 2019, New Zealand lost 9.6 people per 100,000 to road crashes, nearly twice the OECD comparison average of 5.5. Only five of the countries in our new book did worse: China, Brazil, India, Chile and the United States.

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In 1973, 843 people died on New Zealand roads. Last year, with far more people driving far more cars, the provisional toll was 272.

Nobody held a press conference, and why would they? The improvement stretched over so many decades that hardly anyone noticed it, and nobody could claim it as their own.

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I checked the latest road toll statistics a few days ago. Interesting.

For the year from January 1, road deaths were up from 291 last year to 300. For the 12 months to Tuesday, they were up from 315 to 328. For driver fatalities, the figures were up from 138 to 151 (for the calendar year to date) and from 146 to 170 (over 12 months).