New Zealand has a vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads.
In the Waimakariri District a number of key partners are involved in road safety. These include the Council, Police, Waka Kotahi (NZ Transport Agency), ACC.
In addition, there are also a number of other agencies, groups and individuals who regularly work with the Council. These parties form the Waimakariri Road Safety Committee which meets every two months to discuss road safety issues.
Areas of concern that feature highly in our area are:
- Restraints and seatbelts
- Impairment including drunk/drug driving
- Distraction
- Speed
- Intersections – rural and urban
We also work locally with partner agencies to focus on mitigating road safety risks including:
- Safe speeds
- safe roads and roadsides
- safe vehicles
- safe road use.
A Council Road Safety Action Plan is developed locally in conjunction with relevant partners to target these areas of concern. The Road Safety Action Plan aims to:
- Support and align with the National Road Safety Strategy – Road to Zero 2020-2030
- Identify the crash risks for the Waimakariri community
- Identify the work being done by the parties to the RSAP to address the crash risks in order to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries
- Improve the wellbeing of members of our communities by providing active transport options
- Facilitate delivery and implementation of the Waimakariri Walking & Cycling Network Plan
- Enable and encourage collaboration between partners on road safety initiatives
- Monitor the progress of the work being done
The programmes of work in the Road Safety Action Plan are reviewed and monitored at the Road Safety Working Group through their bi-monthly meetings. A key function of the Road Safety Working Group is to share information between partners and create opportunities for collaboration.
Road to Zero is New Zealand’s Road Safety Plan. It outlines New Zealand’s plan to keep people safe on our roads. It includes the vision of no-one being killed or seriously injured on our roads, and sets an interim target of a 40% reduction in death and serious injuries (from 2018 levels) by 2030.
Road to Zero Action Plan 2020-22 accompanies Road to Zero: New Zealand’s road safety strategy for 2020-2030. The first Road to Zero Action Plan (2020-2022) contains 15 initial actions, within the strategy’s five focus areas. The initial action plan lasted for three years through to 2022.