Road toll
For information regarding pay-per-use road tax, see
Toll road.
Road toll is the term used in some countries for the number of deaths caused annually by road accidents. The term is in common and official use in Australia and New Zealand.
Australia
In Australia the road toll is reported at a state level. Similar to New Zealand, Australia also reports national figures for special holidays, though usually only for the Christmas and Easter holiday periods.
New Zealand
New Zealand reports an annual nationwide road toll, plus special period figures for a number of holiday periods:
- Christmas - New Year : between 4pm on 24 December (22 or 23 December if 24 December falls on a weekend) and 6am on 3 January (4 or 5 January if 1 and/or 2 January fall on a weekend or 2 January falls on a Friday).
- Easter - from 4pm on the day before Good Friday and 6am the following Tuesday.
- Queen's Birthday - from 4pm on the Friday before the first Monday in June to 6am the following Tuesday.
- Labour Weekend - from 4pm on the Friday before the last Monday in October to 6am the following Tuesday.
The road toll includes deaths which occur within 7 days of a road accident as a result of injuries received in the accident. Deaths of pedestrians and cyclists are included, but deaths from vehicular accidents not on legal roads (e.g. on farms) are excluded.
The New Zealand road toll has exhibited a downward trend since the late 1980s through to 2010, which was attributed to a number of factors:
- A reduction in drink driving, due to public education and strict policing.
- Improvements in vehicle safety.
- An increase in the wearing of seat belts due to public education
- Hazard mitigation works on dangerous stretches of road.
- Reduction of speed limits in some accident blackspots and areas frequented by vulnerable road users.
See also
External links