New Zealand is an incredible place to live, but it unfortunately has a poor track record when it comes to road safety. In fact, New Zealand has one of the highest road accident rates in the developed world. According to the Ministry of Transport, “one person is killed every day and seven others are seriously injured in road crashes.” By 2030, this adds up to an estimated 3,000 lives lost and 30,000 people left with serious injuries due to unsafe driving.
To tackle this alarming issue, the Ministry of Transport launched the Road to Zero strategy—a comprehensive, decade-long initiative aimed at significantly reducing road fatalities and injuries from January 2020 to December 2029. Over the past four years, Kiwis have seen numerous road safety campaigns on TV, social media, and billboards, all working alongside legislative changes and speed limit adjustments to shift public attitudes around road safety.
But are these campaigns actually making a difference? In this article, we’ll examine some of the most prominent road safety campaigns in New Zealand and explore whether they’re effectively reducing accidents and making the streets safer for drivers and pedestrians.
3 Key NZ Road Safety Campaigns
The Road to Zero strategy is built around five key focus areas that the government has identified as critical to improving road safety. In this article, we’ll focus on three of these areas—speeding, vehicle safety ratings, and drink-driving—to see how the associated campaigns are performing.
1. Speeding Campaign: “Through My Eyes”
The “Through My Eyes” campaign is designed to encourage Kiwis to slow down, highlighting the fact that speed is a major factor in the severity of crashes. Despite awareness around speed limits, speeding remains a common behaviour on New Zealand roads, particularly among young male drivers aged 18-35, who are overrepresented in speed-related crashes.
This campaign uses the perspective of a weary police officer who has witnessed one tragic crash too many. By showing the emotional toll on those who have to respond to these incidents, the campaign aims to make drivers question whether minor reasons to speed are worth the potential consequences.
2. Vehicle Safety Ratings Campaign: “How Well Can Your Car Protect You?”
The RightCar campaign focuses on educating Kiwis about vehicle safety ratings. With around 40% of vehicles on New Zealand’s roads having a 1- or 2-star safety rating, these lower-rated cars are significantly overrepresented in serious injuries and fatalities. This campaign encourages vehicle owners to check their car’s safety rating on the RightCar website and, if possible, to opt for vehicles with higher safety ratings.
To illustrate the dangers of low-rated vehicles, the campaign used a powerful metaphor of “cardboard cars” to demonstrate how poorly some vehicles perform in crashes. The goal is to shift public attitudes so that vehicle safety becomes a top consideration when buying a car.
3. Drink-Driving Campaign: “Would You Rather…”
Drink-driving remains one of the most significant road safety issues in New Zealand. Despite widespread awareness of the dangers, impaired driving is still common, with over 250 deaths and serious injuries attributed to drink-driving in 2021 alone. The “Would You Rather…” campaign targets drivers aged 20-34, who account for over half of drink-driving incidents, and aims to make the choice to drive drunk feel weighty and consequential.
This campaign encourages drivers to consider the broader consequences of their decision—beyond just the risk of a crash. It highlights the potential loss of a licence, the loss of trust and respect from loved ones, and the very real risk of losing lives. By focusing on the emotional and social costs of drink-driving, the campaign aims to reduce impaired driving rates among high-risk groups.
Are NZ Road Safety Campaigns Making a Difference?
According to the Ministry of Transport, there were 341 road fatalities from 304 crashes across New Zealand in 2023, with most incidents occurring in Auckland, Canterbury, and Waikato. While this represents a decrease of 30 fatalities compared to 2022—a year that saw a concerning spike in road deaths—the numbers are still high. When the Road to Zero strategy was introduced in 2019, the annual road toll was 350 deaths, meaning there has only been a small reduction over the past four years.
However, 2024 has shown some positive preliminary data, with with provisional crash figures indicating a sharper decline than in previous years. This trend suggests that the ongoing efforts of the Road to Zero strategy, including these public awareness campaigns, may finally be starting to gain traction.
The Long Road Ahead
Achieving meaningful, long-term reductions in road fatalities and injuries is a complex challenge that requires time. Campaigns and strategies like Road to Zero are designed with a long-term view in mind, and the real impact may not be fully measurable until closer to the programme’s conclusion in 2029. Behavioural change on a large scale takes persistence, and campaigns like “Through My Eyes”, “How Well Can Your Car Protect You?”, and “Would You Rather…” are just one part of a wider system designed to improve road safety.
While it’s too early to declare these campaigns an outright success, the data is showing some promising signs. Every saved life and every avoided injury is a testament to the importance of these campaigns. When combined with lower speed limits, improved road signage, and other legislative changes, these efforts create a safer future for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians across New Zealand.
While we can’t conclusively say that NZ road safety campaigns alone are responsible for recent reductions in fatalities, they play a critical role in educating the public and promoting safer choices. The journey to zero road fatalities is a long one, but with continued focus and investment in road safety education, the outlook is increasingly positive for Kiwi road users.
