Holiday Road Toll

Queen's Birthday holiday period

The official holiday period for Queen's Birthday for 2010 began at 1600 Friday 4 June and ended at 0600 Tuesday 8 June.

• During Queen’s Birthday weekend in 2010 there was 1 fatal crash. This crash resulted in 1 death.

• The person killed was a passenger.

• Injury statistics for Queen's Birthday weekend 2010 are not yet available. 

Historical since 1980

The toll of 1 death for 2010 is the lowest since the 1 death recorded in 1956 (the first year with available records for holiday periods). The highest number killed is 24 which was recorded in 1973.

Easter holiday period 2010

The official Easter holiday period for 2010 began at 1600
Thursday 1 April and ended at 0600 hours Tuesday 6 April.

• Over Easter weekend 2010 there were 9 fatal crashes. These crashes resulted in 12 deaths.

• The 12 deaths included:
   5 Drivers 
   4 Passengers 
   1 M/C Rider 
   1 M/C Pillion 
   1 Pedestrian

• All of the fatal crashes reported during the Easter weekend occurred on the open road.

• Alcohol and speed were suspected in the same crash for 5 of the fatal crashes, with speed suspected for a further fatal crash.

Historical since 1980

The tolls for 2003, 2002 and 1998 were the lowest since the first available records for holiday periods in 1956. The previous lowest total was 4 deaths recorded in 1959. The highest recorded number killed is 21 which was recorded in 1971.

Christmas/New Year holiday period 2010

The Christmas/New Year holiday road toll period began at 4pm on Thursday 24 December and ended at 6am on Tuesday 5 January.

The holiday period was 11.6 days. Last year the 2008/09 holiday period was exactly the same - from Dec 24 to Jan 5 (11.6 days).

Read Transport Minister Steven Joyce’s pre-Christmas media release and safe driving tips. 

Read Transport Minister Steven Joyce’s 1 Jan 2010 road toll media release.

Read Transport Minister Steven Joyce’s 5 Jan 2010 provisional holiday road toll media release.

The holiday road toll has risen to 13 following the death of a driver in the Far North District from a crash that occurred on 4 January.

Provisional 2009/10 statistics

During the 2009/2010 Christmas holiday period there were 12 fatal crashes resulting in 13 deaths.

The deaths included:

• 6 drivers
• 5 passengers
• 1 motor cycle rider
• 1 pedestrian

All but one of the 13 deaths were as a result of crashes that occurred on the open road.

Note: Total injury crash statistics will not be available for several months. This allows time for crash investigations and reports to be completed and statistics to be collated.

2009/10 holiday period road deaths by local government region:

Statistics facts

• The lowest Christmas holiday period road toll on record occurred during 1959/60 when 8 deaths were recorded. 9 deaths were recorded in 1966/67.
• The highest Christmas holiday period road toll on record occurred during 1972/73 when 37 deaths were recorded.
• The earliest year for which records for holiday periods are available is 1956/57.
• During the 2008/2009 Christmas holiday period there were 22 fatal crashes and 310 reported injury crashes. Those crashes resulted in 25 deaths, 82 serious injuries and 373 minor injuries.
• The deaths included:
  11 drivers
  8 passengers
  5 motor cycle riders (including pillion passengers)
  1 pedestrian

Historical Christmas period statistics

The historical Christmas period road crash statistics table shows data from 1958 to 2009.

Download the historical Christmas period statistics table (PDF v7.0, 35.7kb).

Holiday period road toll by region

The following table shows the number of road deaths and reported injuries by local government region for the last nine Christmas /New Year periods from 2000/2001 to 2008/2009.  

Useful information