Version 3: 29 March 2009

The Safer Journeys strategy identified 13 areas where New Zealand’s current road
safety performance needs to be strengthened. Of these 13 areas, five were identified
as high concern and six identified as medium concern. Two areas were identified as
requiring continued or emerging focus. The Safer Journeys areas of concern are:

Areas of high concern:
– Reducing alcohol/drug impaired driving
– Increasing the safety of young drivers
– Safe roads and roadsides
– Safe speeds
– Increasing the safety of motorcycling

Areas of medium concern
– Improving the safety of the light vehicle fleet
– Safe walking and cycling
– Improving the safety of heavy vehicles
– Reducing the impact of fatigue
– Addressing distraction
– Reducing the impact of high risk drivers

Areas of continued and emerging focus
– Increasing the level of restraint use
– Increasing the safety of older New Zealanders

The NZTA has aligned its strategic investment framework for the Demand
management and community programmes activity class with the Safer Journeys areas
of concern and prioritised funding accordingly.

However, we know that some communities are over-represented in national statistics
for the risk areas (e.g. some communities may have a disproportionately high
number of older drivers involved in crashes, while others may have a greater need to
address crashes related to fatigue). The communities at risk register enable us to
prioritise funding to those communities that feature highly within a national risk
area. This register also provides a tool to help local authorities identify and prioritise
resources towards the issues where their communities are most at risk.

By identifying the risk profile for each territorial authority (TA), the NZTA and TAs
can target their resources where they are most needed to reduce injury or death on
our roads, rather than spreading resources too thinly across all risk areas at a
national level.

see attached pdf