Christmas/New Year holiday period road toll 2012/13

Christmas/New Year holiday period road toll 2012/13

During the 2012/2013 Christmas holiday period there were 6 fatal crashes. Those crashes resulted in 6 deaths. The Ministry will not be able to confirm the number of injuries over this holiday period for several months.

The deaths included:

• 3 drivers
• 2 passengers
• 1 pedestrian

All six deaths were from crashes that occurred on the open road.

The official holiday period began at 4pm on Monday 24 December 2012 and ended at 6am on Thursday 3 January 2013.

The Associate Minister of Transport issued two media statements during the Christmas holiday period, the first on 1 January 2013 about the 2012 road toll and the second on 3 January about the Christmas/New Year holiday road toll. The media statements are available here.

Christmas/New Year holiday period road toll 2011/12

During the 2011/2012 Christmas holiday period there were 15 fatal crashes and 285 reported injury crashes. Those crashes resulted in 19 deaths, 65 serious injuries and 335 minor injuries.

The deaths included:

• 9 drivers
• 7 passengers
• 3 pedestrians

Sixteen of the 19 deaths and 52 percent of the reported injuries were from crashes that occurred on the open road.

Forty-three percent of the crashes were single vehicle crashes in which a driver lost control of the vehicle or ran off the roadway. A further 23 percent were intersection collisions, 12 percent were rear end collisions or collisions with obstructions, 7 percent were head on crashes and 7 percent were pedestrian collisions. Seven of the 19 deaths were in single vehicle crashes in which a driver lost control of the vehicle or ran off the roadway and 6 deaths were in ‘head on’ crashes.

The most common driver factors contributing to reported crashes over the holiday period were ‘driver losing control’ (38 percent of crashes), ‘inattention’ (20 percent), ‘alcohol’ (19 percent), ‘failing to give way’ (18 percent), ‘travelling too fast for conditions’ (17 percent), ‘did not see other party’ (17 percent), ‘inexperience’ (13 percent), and ‘fatigue’ (7 percent).

1. Consistent injury crash data not available prior to 1990.
2. Holiday period refers to the number of days the official holiday period covers.
3. The length of the official holiday period varies depending on where the statutory holidays fall in relation to the weekend. When Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on a week day the holiday starts at 4.00 pm on 24 December. If the holiday begins on a Monday or a Tuesday then it ends at 6.00am on 3 January (9.6 days). If the holiday begins from Wednesday to Friday then it ends at 6.00am on 5 January (11.6 days). When Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on a Saturday the holiday starts at 4.00pm on Friday 23 December and ends at 6.00 am on Wednesday 4 January (11.6 days). When Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on a Sunday the holiday starts at 4.00pm on Friday 22 December and ends at 6.00 am on Wednesday 3 January (11.6 days).

The lowest Christmas holiday period road toll on record occurred during 2012/13 when 6 deaths were recorded. There were 8 deaths recorded in 1959/60. There were 9 deaths recorded in 1966/67 and again in 2006/07. The highest holiday period road toll on record was in 1972/73 when there were 37 deaths.

The earliest year for which records for holiday periods are available is 1956/57.

Local government Christmas/New Year statistics

View full local government region road toll tables for Christmas/New Year from 1980/81 – 2010/11 (Note: 1980 is as far back as regional records are available).

Local government region road toll

More information on regions/local bodies is available on the NZ Transport Agency website.

• Local Body boundary changes mean that records have been kept from 1980 onwards. In November 2010, the Auckland Super City was established. The figures have been altered for Auckland and other regions to allow for this development.
• For some regions, due to small numbers, changes from year to year may not be significant.

The shaded boxes in the table below refer to the lowest or highest number of deaths and the year it was recorded.

View the full local government region annual road toll tables for 1980/81-2010/11 (Note: 1980 is as far back as regional records are available).

View the Annual road toll historical information

Road toll reports

The Ministry of Transport compiles reports on the road toll by quarter, with breakdowns of features, historical trends and possible factors. You can find the most recent quarterly report on our road toll page.