The full evaluation report of the 2013-14 Safer Summer campaign is published on the Police website today.
The evaluation found that the 2013-14 Safer Summer campaign was associated with:
· a significant 36% decrease in exceeding the speed limit by 1-10km/h
· a significant 45% decrease for speeding in excess of 10km/h.
In terms of road trauma, the evaluation showed that:
· fatal crashes decreased by 22%
· serious injury crashes decreased by 8%
· minor injury crashes decreased by 16%.
Due to the small numbers involved, the evaluation could not confirm the statistical significance of the crash decreases.
Assistant Commissioner Road Policing, Dave Cliff, today launched a new road safety campaign which commits Police to ensuring more people safely ‘reach the beach’ this summer.
“Like last summer’s campaign, this is one of several initiatives by Police and the wider road safety sector to encourage safer driving on our roads over the long term,” he said. “This evaluation supports a vast body of research showing that driving a few kilometres slower makes us all safer.”
He notes that the evaluation found drivers tended to revert to pre-intervention speeds once the campaign ended.
“We want to keep the statistics moving in the right direction – not just over summer but every day of the year.”
Police is reminding people that anything over the limit is speeding, and that from 1 December lower alcohol limits for drivers aged 20 and over will be strictly enforced.
ENDS
Links:
2013/14 Safer Summer Evaluation: http://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publication/evaluation-201314-safer-summer-road-safety-campaign
Media release - Protecting lives on the roads this summer and beyond: http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/protecting-lives-roads-summer-and-beyond
Note to editors
The 10km/h speed enforcement threshold has been reduced to 4km/h during official holiday periods in New Zealand since Queen’s Birthday weekend 2010. The 2013/14 Safer Summer road safety campaign was the first time the speed enforcement threshold reduction had been extended beyond official holiday periods to a full two month period.
The campaign was carried out by Police from 1 December 2013 to 31 January 2014, and supported by the wider road safety sector. It involved a well-publicised reduced speed enforcement threshold, combined with intensified and highly visible speed enforcement.
The final report evaluates the effects of the campaign on speeding and crashes.