Cycle lanes are one way of making cycling safer

Promoting Road safety

Our road safety team is committed to working with the community to improve road safety and reduce the number of people killed or injured on our roads.

Initiatives such as school speed zones and the addition of cycle lanes on busy roads are aimed at protecting our most vulnerable road users.

However, it is up to all road users to observe the road rules and take care on the roads to help keep everyone safe.

The most recent road safety statistics from Land Transport New Zealand show that failure to stop or give way at intersections, failure to take a bend and roadside hazards such as trees and power poles were the main causes of vehicle crashes in North Shore City in 2006.

Six people died as a result of crashes on the city's roads in that year, a similar figure to previous years. While the number of fatalities has fluctuated over the past eight years, the number of serious crashes has been steadily increasing since 1997.

The major safety issues on North Shore City roads are:

Crashes at bends
Between 2002 and 2006 sixteen percent of all injury crashes in North Shore City occurred at bends. These crashes resulted in 12 fatalities, 72 serious injuries and 387 minor injuries. Thirty per cent of these crashes also involved alcohol

Intersections
During the five year period 2002 to 2006 there were a total of 4143 crashes at intersections in North Shore City. The most common scenario is where a driver turns right at an intersection and is hit by a vehicle approaching from the right. The main causes were failing to stop and give way, not checking properly and general errors of judgement.

Vulnerable road users
Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are more susceptible to severe injury in a crash because of their relative lack of protection.

Pedestrians are most likely to be involved in a crash when they are crossing the road away from an intersection.

For cyclists the most common type of crash is when they are crossing a road, turning, or being overtaken. Motorcyclists are most likely to be involved in a crash if they lose control, are turning, or in a rear-end collision.

Roadside hazards
Some of the most common roadside hazards involved in crashes on North Shore City roads were parked cars, fences, guard rails, trees, posts and poles.

Safety Statistics 2006PDF (348 KB)

Community road safety projects
Community road safety projects are mainly funded through the LTNZ’s Community Focused Land Transport Activities Funding (CFA), ACC and North Shore City Council. Their aim is to change behaviour. The programmes include:

• Intersection safety (crossing and turning)
• Loss of control at bends (cornering)
• Pedestrians/cyclists /motorcyclists
• Students Against Driving Drunk (SADD)
• Safe With Age - Drivers' refresher course through Age Concern
• Driver licensing courses
• Restricted driving courses  - delete this one
• Road safety education for migrants
• Alcohol project s
• Speed projects

Road Safety Strategy 2006-2016
In 2005, the social cost of crashes on the North Shore was estimated to be $72 million and over the past five years there has been a general upward trend in casualty numbers.

In order for North Shore City to contribute to national road safety targets to reduce the number and severity of crashes, and to achieve its vision of providing and supporting an integrated, safe, responsive and sustainable transport system, strategies and approaches to achieve safety targets are required.

The purpose of the Road Safety Strategy is to clearly define what North Shore City plans to do over the next ten years to ensure that safety goals are achieved. The Strategy highlights specific targets for the year 2010 and outlines the interventions that will be implemented to achieve these targets.

Road Safety Strategy 2006-2016 PDF [1.72 mb]

ShoreSafe (injury prevention projects) 
This group is an inter-agency committee, which includes extensive links across the North Shore City and regionally. North Shore City road safety co-ordinators are involved with the road safety working group: WHO

• Seatbelt campaigns
• Fatigue campaigns
• Child restraint campaigns

Funding for community groups - The Small Project Fund
The Fund is for projects up to $5,000 (plus GST) that is community based and address local issues. For example: ‘Drivers licence assistance course for unlicensed drivers’. 

RoadSafe - The Small Project Fund

Other useful links

Land Transport NZ - Road Safety Trust
Community  Focused Land Transport Activities Funding (CFA)