The data presented here are provisional. Crash data as at 6th October 2016.
Twenty-five people died on New Zealand roads in September. This is 6 more than September 2015 and 7 more than the average September road toll for the last five years.
![Graph showing September deaths]()
To the end of September this year, 244 people have died on New Zealand roads. This is 16 more than at the same time last year.
- In the 12 months to the end of September 2016, 335 people died on our roads. This is 11 more than the 12 months to the end of September 2015.
During September, 10 of the deaths were car or van drivers, 6 were motorcyclists, 5 were passengers and 4 were pedestrians.
Eighteen of the 25 deaths were in open road crashes. Eight were in single vehicle crashes in which a driver lost control of the vehicle or ran off the road and 7 were in head-on collisions.
Of the 15 vehicle occupants who died, 3 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 September 2016. Reported injuries are for the 12 months to the end of April 2016.
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
| Sex | Drivers | Passengers | Motorcyclists | Pedestrians | Cyclists | Other | Total | |||||||
| Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | |
| Male | 122 | 3764 | 41 | 968 | 48 | 985 | 16 | 444 | 8 | 546 | 1 | 32 | 236 | 6739 |
| Female | 38 | 2950 | 42 | 1299 | 6 | 196 | 11 | 400 | 0 | 197 | 2 | 16 | 99 | 5058 |
| Total | 160 | 6714 | 83 | 2267 | 54 | 1181 | 27 | 844 | 8 | 743 | 3 | 48 | 335 | 11797 |
| %male | 76% | 56% | 49% | 43% | 89% | 83% | 59% | 53% | 100% | 73% | 33% | 67% | 70% | 57% |
| Age group | Drivers | Passengers | Motorcyclists | Pedestrians | Cyclists | Other | Total | |||||||
| Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | Deaths | Injuries | |
| Under-15 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 343 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 175 | 1 | 86 | 1 | 18 | 13 | 647 |
| 15-24 | 34 | 1788 | 34 | 772 | 11 | 321 | 2 | 166 | 1 | 129 | 0 | 5 | 82 | 3181 |
| 25-34 | 32 | 1425 | 9 | 324 | 8 | 212 | 4 | 93 | 0 | 119 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 2173 |
| 35-44 | 25 | 934 | 7 | 158 | 8 | 183 | 4 | 76 | 0 | 123 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 1475 |
| 45-54 | 21 | 924 | 7 | 139 | 13 | 232 | 5 | 86 | 2 | 125 | 0 | 4 | 48 | 1510 |
| 55-64 | 16 | 751 | 9 | 146 | 9 | 151 | 4 | 76 | 3 | 77 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 1201 |
| 65-74 | 14 | 443 | 3 | 69 | 3 | 39 | 2 | 55 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 4 | 22 | 654 |
| 75+ | 18 | 374 | 7 | 65 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 53 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 15 | 32 | 534 |
| Unknown | 0 | 64 | 0 | 251 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 64 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 422 |
| Total | 160 | 6714 | 83 | 2267 | 54 | 1181 | 27 | 844 | 8 | 743 | 3 | 48 | 335 | 11797 |
Road user type by age group
Trends
Since 1990 the number of vehicles on the road has increased by 71 percent while Police reported injuries have dropped by 29 percent, road deaths have dropped by 56 percent and the number of days spent in hospital as a result of road crashes has dropped by 56 percent.
Crash outcomes and road user behaviour
Road crash data
| Deaths | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
| Number of road deaths | 405 | 393 | 421 | 366 | 384 | 375 | 284 | 308 | 253 | 293 | 319 | 335 |
| Deaths per 10,000 vehicles | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.88 | 0.95 | 0.77 | 0.86 | 0.91 | 0.92 |
| Deaths per 100,000 people | 9.9 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 8.6 | 8.9 | 8.6 | 6.4 | 6.9 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 7.1 |
Note: Road deaths for 2016 are for the 12 months to the end of September 2016.
| Injuries | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
| Reported injuries | 14456 | 15174 | 16013 | 15317 | 14625 | 14031 | 12574 | 12122 | 11781 | 11219 | 12270 | 11797 |
| Number hospitalised (all discharges) | 7210 | 7680 | 7440 | 7570 | 7590 | 7360 | 6780 | 7070 | 7150 | 6940 | 7290 | 7721 |
| Number hospitalised for over 1 day | 3198 | 3396 | 3404 | 3244 | 3042 | 2909 | 2707 | 2794 | 2886 | 2716 | 2896 | 3077 |
| Number hospitalised for over 3 days | 2192 | 2251 | 2351 | 2210 | 2051 | 1918 | 1801 | 1872 | 1886 | 1752 | 1901 | 2000 |
Note: Reported injuries for 2016 are for the 12 months to the end of April 2016.
Hospitalisations for 2016 are for the 12 months to the end of April 2016.
Behavioural measures
| Speed | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
| Rural speed, % over 100 km/h | 36% | 32% | 29% | 30% | 29% | 29% | 31% | 25% | 25% | 22% | 23% | n/a |
| Rural speed, mean (km/h) | 97.1 | 96.4 | 96.3 | 96.6 | 96.3 | 96.2 | 96.5 | 95.6 | 95.7 | 95.3 | 95.7 | n/a |
| Rural speed, 85th percentile (km/h) | 104 | 103 | 103 | 103 | 103 | 103 | 103 | 102 | 102 | 101 | 101 | n/a |
| Alcohol | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| Number of drivers killed with excess alcohol | 58 | 54 | 65 | 59 | 66 | 68 | 48 | 49 | 38 | 31 | 49 |
| Percent of drivers killed with excess alcohol | 25% | 24% | 27% | 28% | 28% | 30% | 26% | 27% | 23% | 18% | 24% |
| Occupant Restraints | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
| Seat belts worn by adults, front | 95% | 95% | 95% | 95% | 95% | 96% | 96% | 96% | n/a | 97% | n/a | 97% |
| Seat belts worn by adults, rear | 86% | 89% | 87% | 87% | 87% | 88% | 90% | n/a | n/a | 92% | n/a | n/a |
| Child restraints used, 0-4 years | 89% | 91% | 91% | 90% | 91% | 93% | n/a | 92% | n/a | 93% | n/a |
| Cycle helmets | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
| Cycle helmets worn, weekday | 91% | 94% | 92% | 92% | 92% | 93% | 93% | 92% | n/a | n/a | 94% | n/a |
Factors contributing to crashes – ranked by social cost*
Notes:
Crash data for the 12 months to the end of April 2016.
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.