Monthly overview of crash statistics May 2010

Last updated on 18/06/2010 9:08 a.m. 

Download the monthly overview of crash statistics for May 2010 (PDF v7.0, 138kb)

The data presented here are provisional. Crash data as at 9 June 2010.

  • Thirty-eight people died on New Zealand roads in May. This is one more than the number of deaths for May 2009 and is three more than the average May toll for the last five years.

Graph showing road deaths in May from 1990 to 2010

  • To the end of May this year 181 people have died on New Zealand roads. This is six fewer than at the same time last year.
  • In the 12 months to the end of May 2010, 378 people were killed on our roads. This is six fewer deaths than in the 12 months to the end of May 2009.
  • During May, 17 of the deaths were car or van drivers, 10 were car or van passengers, five were motorcyclists, two were pedestrians, two were cyclists, one was a truck passenger and one was on a mobility scooter.
  • Twenty-six of the 38 killed were in open road crashes. Seventeen 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 seven were in intersection collisions.
  • Of the 28 vehicle occupants killed, 10 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 May 2010. Reported injuries are for the 12 months to the end of December 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

    Male      Female      Total      % male     
Drivers  Killed  135  58  193  70% 
  Injured     4440  3577  8017 55% 
Passengers Killed  56  40  96  58% 
  Injured 1512  1858  3370  45% 
Motorcyclists  Killed  49  1  50  98% 
  Injured 1125  244  1369  82% 
Pedestrians Killed  16  10  26  62% 
  Injured 458  456  914  50% 
Cyclists Killed  7  3  10  70% 
  Injured  638  187  825  77% 
Other Killed  3  0  3  100% 
  Injured  25  21 46  54% 
Total Killed  266  112  378  70% 
  Injured  8198  6343  14541  56% 

Road user type by age group

Killled               
Age group  Drivers  Passengers  Motorcyclists  Pedestrians  Cyclists  Other  Total 
Under 15  0  14  1  1  0  0  16 
15-24 48  45  12  4  2  0  111 
25-34 29  7  9  2  2  0  49 
35-44  21  7  18  3  1  1  51 
45-54 32  6  8  2  2  0  50 
55-64 22  4  2  5  1  0  34 
65-74 17  5  0  1  1  1  25 
75+ 23  8  0  8  1  1  41 
Unknown 1  0  0  0  0  0  1 
Total 193  96  50  26  10  3  378 

Injured               
Age group  Drivers  Passengers  Motorcyclists  Pedestrians  Cyclists  Other  Total 
Under 15  9  554  24  242 147  8  984 
15-24 2557  1414  407  217  148  9  4752 
25-34 1404  366  234  77  116  4  2201 
35-44 1362  210  267  67  132  2  2040 
45-54 1105  204  275  59  136  2  1781 
55-64 721  162  101  50  73  5  1112 
65-74 366  99  27  52  15  5  564 
75+ 398  88  13  73  11  9  592 
Unknown 95  273  21  77  47  2  515 
Total 8017  3370  1369  914  825  46  14541 

Graph showing deaths in the 12 months to May 2010 and injuries in the 12 months to December 2009

Graph showing types of road users killed in the 12 months to May 2010 and injured in the 12 months to December 2009

Trends

Graph showing road crash casualties and vehicle fleet compared to 1990

Since 1990 the number of vehicles on the road has increased by 50 percent while Police reported injuries have dropped by 13 percent, road deaths have dropped by 50 percent and the number of days spent in hospital as a result of road crashes has dropped by 51 percent.

Crash outcomes and road user behaviour

Road crash data  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010 
Deaths
Number of road deaths  455  405  461  435  405  393  421  365  384  378 
Deaths per 10,000 vehicles 1.7  1.5  1.6  1.5  1.3  1.3  1.3  1.1  1.2  1.2 
Deaths per 100,000 people 11.8  10.3  11.5  10.7  9.9  9.5  10.0  8.6  8.9  8.8 
Injuries
Reported injuries  12368  13918  14372  13890  14456  15174  16013  15308  14541  - 
Number hospitalised (all discharges) 6700  6530  6540  6580  7210  7680  7440  7560  7530  - 
Number hospitalised for over 1 day* 2880  2750  2720  2710  2860  3020  3060  2880  2662  - 
Number hospitalised for over 3 days* 1794  1740  1700  1700  1840  1900  1990  1880  1720  - 
Behavioural measures        2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010 
Speed
Rural speed, % over 100 km/h 47%     43%  39%  39%  36%  32%  29%  30%  29%  - 
Rural speed, mean (km/h) 100.2 99.1 98 97.8 97.1 96.4 96.3 96.6 96.3 -
Rural speed, 85th percentile (km/h) 109 107 105 105 104 103 103 103 103 -
Alcohol
Number of drivers killed with excess alcohol  55 60 70 69 58 54 65 59 - -
Percent of drivers killed with excess alcohol 21% 24% 27% 27% 25% 24% 27% 28% - -
Occupant restraints
Seat belts worn by adults, front 92% 92% 92% 94% 95% 95% 95% 95% 95% -
Seat belts worn by adults, rear 70% 78% 81% 86% 86% 89% 87% 87% 87% -
Children restrained,
0-14 years		 89% 94% 96% 97% 94% 96% 94% 97% 97% -
Child restraints,
0-4 years		 82% 86% 86% 87% 89% 91% 91% 90% 91% -
Cycle helmets
Cycle helmets worn, weekday 94% 89% 89% 92% 91% 94% 92% 92% 92% -

*Includes only first stay in hospital

Note: Road deaths for 2010 are for the 12 months to the end of May 2010. Reported injuries for 2009 are for the 12 months to the end of December 2009.

Factors contributing to crashes – ranked by social cost*

Graph showing the factors contributing to crashes for the 12 months to the end of December 2009

Notes:  Crash data for the 12 months to end of December 2009
Since there can be several contributing factors for a single crash the figures represented in this graph add to more than 100 percent.

* 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.