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Despite this year’s roadblocks and minimal tourists on the road, New Zealand’s steadfast toll remained “disappointingly” high in 2020.
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Three more people have died since last night, bringing the total number of deaths to eight. Source: 1 NEWS
With 320 deaths, the balance for 2020 is still 32 less than last year. However, if you factor in the weeks with limited travel during the April lockdown and subsequent Auckland lockdown, you would be on track to be a bit higher than 2019.
Just three years in the last decade they have had fewer than 300 deaths at their annual toll, but road safety experts were hoping this year would be next.
“If you remove the April lockout from the equation, that accounts for all the difference between 2020 and the year before,” said AA general manager of automotive affairs Mike Noon.
“Deaths on the road for the other 11 months of the year have been slightly higher than in 2019, which is a very sad and disappointing result.”
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The toll already matches the death toll during the entire Christmas and New Year period last year. Source: 1 NEWS
The border closures are believed to have been part of the reason why this year’s road toll remained high, while fewer foreigners visited New Zealand’s shores, there have been more kiwis returning than ever.
Noon says the number of returning expats during the winter period was higher than the number of tourists who would otherwise be on vacation here, which could be related to higher-than-normal traffic on the roads.
Increasing breathalyzer tests, maintaining high-risk roads, and improving road safety support for youth are among the list of things AA would like the government to do to improve toll statistics. on the roads.
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Six people have been killed on New Zealand roads in six separate crashes in recent days.
Annual deaths on the road in recent years:
