Safer Journeys action plan - FAQs

What is the Safer Journeys action plan?

The action plan follows Safer Journeys: New Zealand’s Road Safety Strategy 2010-2020. First actions were taken in 2010 This includes amended legislation to:

• raise the driving age to 16
• introduce a zero drink-drive limit for drivers under 20
• introduce alcohol interlocks as sentencing option for the courts to use for repeat and first time offenders with a high blood alcohol content
• introduce a zero blood alcohol limit for a minimum 3 year period for repeat drink-drivers, or drivers subject to an alcohol interlock
• increase the penalties for all dangerous driving (including drink and drug driving) causing death
• improve motorcycle rider training and licensing.

Find out more information about actions taken so far (PDF, 182kb).

The action plan also details the next actions that will be taken over the years 2011-2012. It assigns responsibility for carrying them out, and provides detail on how progress will be monitored.

Further action plans will be developed over the life of the strategy to set actions for future years, provide essential detail and identify any issues that have emerged since the publication of the Safer Journeys strategy.

What is the Safer Journeys strategy?

The Safer Journeys strategy is a guiding document for transport decision makers and those with an interest in road safety. It sets out the government’s vision for road safety in New Zealand and priority areas for focus. The strategy lists some of the actions we will work towards to improve road safety over the next decade. These actions are flexible, as we will need to monitor progress and stay aware of emerging issues to ensure our road safety effort continues to be effective for New Zealand.

Read the Safer Journeys strategy.

Who developed the action plan?

The action plan was developed by the National Road Safety Committee. This is made up of the government agencies that have a role in road safety. It is led by the Ministry of Transport and includes New Zealand Police, the NZ Transport Agency, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and Local Government New Zealand. The Ministries of Health, Education and Justice and the Department of Labour are associate members.

In developing the plan, National Road Safety Committee agencies were each responsible for focus areas in the action plan. They considered research on New Zealand’s road safety performance.

Will the actions in this plan be implemented?

The government will be working to progress the actions in the plan. Responsibility for each action is listed in the plan and progress will be monitored by the National Road Safety Management Group, a subgroup of the National Road Safety Committee.

When will these changes be made?

Some actions are already underway and all others are planned to commence in the 2011-2012 period. Actions are already underway in the areas of increasing the safety of young drivers, reducing alcohol and drug impaired driving, reducing the impact of high risk drivers and increasing the safety of motorcycling. To help achieve safe roads and roadsides the KiwiRAP star ratings of the State highway network have been developed to allow sections of high-risk rural roads to be identified so improvement programmes can begin.

However, a task such as changing New Zealand’s roads and vehicles to fit a Safe System approach, will require a long term focus and so may take several years to be fully implemented.

What is the process for putting these actions in place?

Process will depend on individual actions. Some, such as raising the driving age to 16, required legislative change, or in the case of altering the give way rules, a change in regulations, while others do not. Ultimately, the process for carrying out specific action is up to the organisation responsible for it.

What effect will the Safer Journeys action plan have on the road toll?

We anticipate that the Safer Journeys actions set out in this action plan will help our progress in reducing the road toll and reducing the level of serious injuries. Detail on expected reductions for individual actions was included in the Safer Journeys strategy.

When will we expect to see results, such as a drop in the number of road deaths and injuries?

We are seeing a drop in deaths and injuries and these actions will help continue that trend. Results are expected progressively after the actions have been implemented. For regulatory change, such as investigating maximum time limits for learner and restricted licences, this will take one to two years. For other, non-regulatory changes, such as promoting safer vehicles, results could occur much sooner. Changes to the safety of vehicles and roads are more long term (eg it can take 5-10 years to make a significant change to the vehicle fleet) but these are long lasting and sustainable changes that make a real difference to reducing road trauma.

How much will it cost to make the changes set out in the action plan? Will this mean funding will be diverted from other areas?

The costs and funding proposals for regulatory initiatives are set out in the Regulatory Impact Statements that accompany the development of new policy. Regulatory Impact Statements for legislation developed by the Ministry of Transport are available on the Ministry’s website. 

Funding for non-regulatory changes will come from the National Land Transport Fund and the budgets of the Road Policing Programme, the NZ Transport Agency, ACC, Local Government New Zealand and local authorities. In each case agencies will need to achieve value for money. There is no intention for a change in funding levels at this point, but agencies may need to reallocate resources so they can meet Safer Journeys priorities.

What does Safer Journeys mean for government agencies such as the Police and the NZ Transport Agency? Will it affect their work programmes and funding?

The main government road safety partners (the Ministry of Transport, the NZ Transport Agency, Police and ACC) are already working to ensure their work programmes align with Safer Journeys. Individual agencies may need to reallocate resources so they can meet Safer Journeys priorities.

What does the action plan mean for the National Land Transport Programme 2009-2012?

The National Land Transport Programme 2009–2012 (NLTP) already supports a range of activities that improve road safety although much of the NLTP funding has already been committed.

However, a change has been made to the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport Funding to ensure that specific Safer Journeys road safety actions can be properly resourced. Safer Journeys will also feed into the development of the next Government Policy Statement on Land Transport Funding and the NLTP for the 2012–15 period.

How were the actions selected?

The initiatives in the action plan are largely based on those in the Safer Journeys road safety strategy, with some changes to reflect research that has been carried out since the strategy was released.

In developing Safer Journeys, we selected the actions which the evidence told us could yield the biggest gains to road safety. We also carefully considered public feedback. Actions are much more effective if they have good support among road users.

Why is the action plan divided into four categories?

The action plan and the Safer Journeys strategy are divided into four categories that reflect the Safe System approach:

• safe roads and roadsides
• safe speeds
• safe vehicles
• safe road use

What is meant by the Safe System approach?

The Safe System approach is a fundamental shift in the way we think about road safety. It acknowledges that people will always make mistakes and that the human body is fragile. These mistakes or errors shouldn’t result in death or serious injury and we need a more forgiving road system to help prevent this.

We aim to design the whole system throughout New Zealand with safe roads and roadsides, safe speeds, safe vehicles and safe road use to reduce the changes of crashes occurring and ensure that people don’t get killed or seriously injured when crashes do happen. This approach acknowledges that everybody from road designers, road users, vehicle retailers and vehicle owners has a part to play in achieving road safety.

International research shows us that if all road users complied with all road rules fatalities would only fall by around 50 percent and injuries by 30 percent. We need to look at all parts of the system to work towards the goal of a road system increasingly free of death and serious injury.

The Safe System approach doesn’t take the responsibility away from road users. They need to play their part along with those who influence the sector such as policy makers, engineers, fleet operators, power and telephone companies, insurers etc. Everyone needs to work together and share responsibility to achieve safer journeys for all.

How were the priority areas selected?

The high priority areas in the action plan are based on those identified in Safer Journeys and are those where the greatest improvements could be made over the period 2010-2020. They are also areas where the government believes a significant change in direction is required to unlock more of the potential benefits. In addition, they are the areas which currently account for the majority of road trauma.

Medium priorities are areas that need to be addressed but relative to the high priorities require less change in policy or practice to improve safety.

Areas of continued and emerging focus are those where progress has been made but there is a need to ensure those gains are not lost, and issues that are predicted to become more important in the future.

How do the actions in the plan compare to what is being done in other countries?

Many countries that lead the world in road safety performance, such as Sweden, have been implementing a Safe System approach for several years. We have been watching and will continue to closely monitor what has been useful and what has not.

Many of the actions in the Safer Journeys strategy and action plan have been proven successful overseas. A report comparing some of the actions proposed in the Safer Journeys discussion document with those implemented or considered in Australia shows that in all but one state the driving age is 16. A number of states are also encouraging, or implementing plans to require, between 100 - 120 hours of driving practice to advance to the next licence stage. Fines and demerit points for licence breaches and speed camera offences are in place in many states.

Were the public consulted in developing these actions?

Consultation was a key part of the Safer Journeys road safety strategy, on which the action plan is based.

Consultation on a Safer Journeys discussion document was held from 18 August to 2 October 2009. More than 1,500 submissions were received.
 
Read the discussion document and a summary of submissions.

Where can I find more information on road safety issues?

The Ministry of Transport produces fact sheets on road safety issues such as alcohol, speed and fatigue.
 
The fact sheets are available on the Ministry's website.

Will there be more action plans? When will they be released?

Further action plans will be developed over the life of the strategy.
 

Decade of Action for Road Safety

What is the Decade of Action for Road Safety?

Nearly 1.3 million people worldwide die as a result of road traffic collisions every year, making road traffic injuries the tenth leading cause of death globally.

Statistics like these have prompted the United Nations and the World Health Organisation to call for a Decade of Action for Road Safety. The Decade was launched in a series of high profile events in major cities around the globe.

The events began in New Zealand, with the release of the Safer Journeys Action Plan, and will end in Mexico. New Zealand’s launch was a joint initiative between the Ministry of Transport, the NZ Transport Agency, ACC, NZ Police, and the AA.

How does the Safer Journey’s Action Plan fit into the Decade of Action?

In New Zealand, hundreds of people are killed every year and thousands more are injured in road crashes. While we have made improvements over the last 30 years, we still lag behind many developed nations when it comes to the numbers of fatal crashes per head of population.

The Decade calls for a Safe System approach to road safety. This means working across the whole road system with actions for safe roads and roadsides, safe speeds, safe vehicles and safe road use. This is the approach New Zealand is taking through the Safer Journeys Road Safety Strategy 2010 – 2020 and its associated action plan.

For more information on the Decade of Action for Road Safety visit the official website: http://www.decadeofaction.org/.