The data presented here are provisional. Crash data as at 9th June 2016.
Twenty-four people died on New Zealand roads in May. This is 1 fewer than May 2015 and 2 fewer than the average May road toll for the last five years.
![Graph showing May road deaths]()
To the end of May this year, 140 people have died on New Zealand roads. This is 3 more than at the same time last year.
- In the 12 months to the end of May 2016, 322 people died on our roads. This is 25 more than the 12 months to the end of May 2015.
During May, 14 of the deaths were car or van drivers, 4 were passengers, 2 were pedestrians, 2 were truck drivers, 1 was a motorcyclist and 1 was on a mobility scooter.
Twenty of the 24 deaths were in open road crashes. Thirteen were in single vehicle crashes in which a driver lost control of the vehicle or ran off the road, 5 were in head-on crashes and 3 were in collisions with pedestrians.
Of the 20 vehicle occupants who died, 6 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 May 2016. Reported injuries are for the 12 months to the end of December 2015.
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 | 3842 | 33 | 988 | 48 | 1033 | 16 | 462 | 6 | 543 | 1 | 34 | 226 | 6902 |
| Female | 38 | 3126 | 42 | 1425 | 5 | 199 | 9 | 400 | 1 | 202 | 1 | 16 | 96 | 5368 |
| Total | 160 | 6968 | 75 | 2413 | 53 | 1232 | 25 | 862 | 7 | 745 | 2 | 50 | 322 | 12270 |
| %male | 76% | 55% | 44% | 41% | 91% | 84% | 64% | 54% | 86% | 73% | 50% | 68% | 70% | 56% |
Road user type by age group
| 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 | 12 | 6 | 344 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 184 | 2 | 85 | 0 | 16 | 11 | 655 |
| 15-24 | 33 | 1819 | 26 | 781 | 11 | 344 | 2 | 169 | 0 | 131 | 0 | 8 | 72 | 3252 |
| 25-34 | 33 | 1502 | 15 | 332 | 8 | 224 | 5 | 83 | 0 | 126 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 2267 |
| 35-44 | 22 | 972 | 6 | 144 | 9 | 191 | 5 | 73 | 0 | 116 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 1496 |
| 45-54 | 15 | 971 | 4 | 136 | 12 | 245 | 2 | 81 | 2 | 127 | 0 | 3 | 35 | 1563 |
| 55-64 | 23 | 774 | 8 | 154 | 9 | 142 | 1 | 64 | 2 | 75 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 1210 |
| 65-74 | 15 | 460 | 4 | 85 | 3 | 36 | 3 | 56 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 682 |
| 75+ | 18 | 384 | 6 | 77 | 1 | 14 | 4 | 59 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 32 | 564 |
| Unknown | 1 | 74 | 0 | 360 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 93 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 581 |
| Total | 160 | 6968 | 75 | 2413 | 53 | 1232 | 25 | 862 | 7 | 745 | 2 | 50 | 322 | 12270 |
Trends
Since 1990 the number of vehicles on the road has increased by 69 percent while Police reported injuries have dropped by 26 percent, road deaths have dropped by 58 percent and the number of days spent in hospital as a result of road crashes has dropped by 59 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 | 322 |
| 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 | 7.0 |
Note: Road deaths for 2016 are for the 12 months to the end of May 2016.
| Injuries | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| Reported injuries | 14456 | 15174 | 16013 | 15317 | 14625 | 14031 | 12574 | 12122 | 11781 | 11219 | 12270 |
| Number hospitalised (all discharges) | 7210 | 7680 | 7440 | 7570 | 7590 | 7360 | 6780 | 7070 | 7150 | 6940 | 7290 |
| Number hospitalised for over 1 day | 3198 | 3396 | 3404 | 3244 | 3042 | 2909 | 2707 | 2794 | 2886 | 2716 | 2896 |
| Number hospitalised for over 3 days | 2192 | 2251 | 2351 | 2210 | 2051 | 1918 | 1801 | 1872 | 1886 | 1752 | 1901 |
Note: Reported injuries for 2015 are for the 12 months to the end of December 2015.
Hospitalisations for 2015 are for the 12 months to the end of December 2015.
Behavioural measures
| Speed | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| Rural speed, % over 100 km/h | 36% | 32% | 29% | 30% | 29% | 29% | 31% | 25% | 25% | 22% | 23% |
| 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 |
| Rural speed, 85th percentile (km/h) | 104 | 103 | 103 | 103 | 103 | 103 | 103 | 102 | 102 | 101 | 101 |
| 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 December 2015.
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.