Monthly overview of crash statistics July 2009

• Thirty-two people died on New Zealand roads in July. This is 11 more than the number of deaths for July 2008 and is two more than the average July toll for the last five years.  

• To the end of July this year 246 people have died on New Zealand roads. This is 28 more than at the same time last year.
• In the 12 months to the end of July 2009, 394 people were killed on our roads. This is six fewer than the number of deaths in the 12 months to the end of July 2008.
• During July, 15 of the deaths were car or van drivers, six were car or van passengers, five were pedestrians, two were truck drivers, one was a motorcyclist, one was a cyclist, one was a bus passenger and one was on a mobility scooter.
• Eighteen of the 32 killed were in open road crashes. Fifteen were in single vehicle crashes in which a driver lost control of the vehicle or ran off the road, seven were in head-on crashes and six were in pedestrian crashes.
• Of the 24 vehicle occupants killed, seven were not restrained at the time of the crash.

Deaths and Police reported injuries by age, sex and type of road user

Deaths are for the 12 months to the end of July 2009. Reported injuries are for the 12 months to the end of January 2009.

Note: Preliminary fatal crash reports are submitted within 24 hours of a crash related death. Full injury crash reports are submitted only after the crash investigations are completed, so there is a lag in the reporting of injury crashes.

Road user type by sex

Road user type by age group

 




Trends

Since 1990 the number of vehicles on the road has increased by 49% while Police reported injuries have dropped by 10%, road deaths have dropped by 48% and the number of days spent in hospital as a result of road crashes has dropped by 50%.

Crash outcomes and road user behaviour

*Includes only the first stay in hospital

Note: Road deaths are for the 12 months to the end of July 2009. Reported injuries for 2009 are for the 12 months to the end of January 2009.

Factors contributing to crashes - ranked by social cost*



Notes: Crash data for the 12 months to end of January 2009

Since there can be several contributing factors for a single crash the figures represented in this graph add to more than 100%.

*Social cost calculations include loss of life or life quality, loss of output due to injuries, medical and rehabilitation costs, legal and court costs and property damage.