SAFER JOURNEYS

2020

MAKE A SUBMISSION STATEMENT

Have your say on how we can improve road safety in New Zealand by making a submission statement on the road safety initiatives outlined in the Safer Journeys discussion document.

The Safer Journeys discussion document has been developed by the Ministry of Transport and

key road safety partners as part of the development of a road safety strategy to take New Zealand

through to 2020. It outlines key road safety issues, and proposed actions for addressing them. The

comments and views the Ministry of Transport receive will be used to develop the final strategy,

Safer Journeys. This will be a guiding document for road safety, and will seek to identify the

appropriate mix of interventions for improving road safety. It will be released in December 2009.

For further information, please contact saferjourneys@transport.govt.nz

The deadline for submissions statements is Friday 2 October 2009.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Please note that submissions provided on the discussion document will be subject to the provisions

of the Official Information Act 1982. This Act requires information to be made available on request

unless there is good reason to withhold the information.

If you do not wish any material provided in your submission statement to be released, please specify the

material that you wish to be withheld and the grounds (as set out in the Act) for withholding. The

decision on whether to release the material under the terms of the Act rests with the Ministry of

Transport. Any decision regarding withholding information is subject to appeal to the Ombudsman.

SECTION ONE

Please fill in your details so that we can acknowledge receipt of your submission statement. Details provided will only be used for consultation on Safer Journeys.

Name or organization Warren Slater

Location (i.e. your suburb, town, region) Whangarei

Email address w.d.slater@xtra.co.nz

Gender: Male/Female (circle one) Male

Age bracket (circle one): Under 20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 60+ 51-60

SECTION TWO

Please write your comments on the Safer Journeys discussion document in the spaces

below. You can attach additional pages if you need more space. Copies of this document

are available to view on the Ministry of Transport’s website www.transport.govt.nz or by

typing in the address www.saferjourneys.govt.nz.

a) Do you think we have identified the right priority areas for improving

road safety? If not, what would you change? Yes most areas have been covered. I have an additional comment to make which I have already forwarded to Hon Steven Joyce as an attachment

AREAS OF HIGH CONCERN

1. REDUCING ALCOHOL/DRUG IMPAIRED DRIVING

a) Which of the suggested initiatives to reduce alcohol/drug impaireddriving do you support? Much harsher penalties for repeat offenders

b) Which initiative to reduce drink driving is the most important to you? Much harsher penalties for repeat offenders

c) Do you support lowering the legal adult Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) limit from BAC 0.08 to

BAC 0.05? Yes

d) How could rural communities be better empowered to address drink driving? Focus on the offenders rather than penalising the innocent majority

e) Do you have other ideas for how we can reduce drink driving? Encourage more clubs etc to provide transport home from functions

f) Do you think we should introduce random roadside drug testing for the presence of illegal drugs

as technology allows? Yes definately

g) Do you have other ideas for how we can reduce drug impaired driving? N/A

2. INCREASING THE SAFETY OF YOUNG DRIVERS

a) Which of the suggested initiatives to increase the safety of young drivers do you support? Raising awareness & better education

b) Which initiative to increase the safety of young drivers is the most important to you? Vehicle restrictions & compulsory third party insurance

c) Do you support raising the minimum driving age? If so, at what age should young people start

learning to drive – 16 or 17? By increasing the age you are moving the danger time out. People learn to drive when they are by themselves. There are some responsible 15 year olds - don’t penalise all for a minority.

d) Do you support extending the learner period by six months? Yes

e) If the driving age was raised and the learner period extended – do you think there should be an

exemption for rural youth who can demonstrate, via a practical test, that they have the skills and

attitudes to drive safely and competently? Yes, but break the law - loose the privilege

f) Do you support having compulsory third party insurance? Yes

g) Should we introduce vehicle restrictions (eg power) for young drivers? Definately

h) Do you have other ideas for how we can increase the safety of young drivers? Yes, see separate attachment already forwarded to Hon Steven Joyce and relates to ALL drivers

3. SAFER ROADS AND ROADSIDES

a) Which of the suggested initiatives to make our roads and roadsides safer do you support? Change the give way rules for turning traffic and pedestrians. All vehicles to have driving lights on in daylight.

b) Which initiative to make our roads and roadsides safer is the most important to you? Reduce head-on and overtaking crashes (where there are passing lanes there should not be broken lines on one side but solid yellow in these areas to prevent head-on’s from vehicles pulling out from behind vehicles with bad visibility)

c) Is there anything we have left out in our suggestions for making our roads and roadsides safer? Maintenance - Some of the roads and repairs are not up to safe standards. Top dollar is paid for roads by the ratepayer and there needs to be a guarantee clause in the contracts that the contractor has to guarantee their work to an acceptable standard for a certain time.

4. SAFER SPEEDS

a) Do you support the suggested initiatives to reduce speed-related crashes? Yes

b) Which initiative to reduce speed-related crashes is the most important to you? Education at younger ages and also see my attachment to Hon Steven Joyce

c) What else could we do to reduce speed-related crashes? ???? If I had the answer I would be famous

d) Do you support having higher demerit points and lower fines for speed-related offences? Yes as long as some don,t have them wiped off if they don’t pay

5. INCREASING THE SAFETY OF MOTORCYCLING

a) Which of the suggested initiatives to increase the safety of motorcyclists do you support? Promote high visibility and protective clothing

b) Which initiative to increase the safety of motorcyclists is the most important to you? Improve rider training and licensing

c) Do you have other ideas for how we can increase the safety of motorcyclists? Lights on all the time to increase the visibility of them

AREAS OF MEDIUM CONCERN

1. IMPROVING THE SAFETY OF THE LIGHT VEHICLE FLEET

a) Which of the suggested initiatives to help make our vehicle fleet safer do you support? Drivers cause accidents not the vehicles - they are only the tool in which the accidents happen

b) Which initiative to help make our vehicle fleet safer is the most important to you? Promote the rapid uptake of advanced vehicle safety systems but people need not be penalised by these costs in the interim

c) What else could we do to improve the safety of the light vehicle fleet? Drivers cause accidents not the vehicles - they are only the tool in which the accidents happen

d) Do you agree that we should make electronic stability control compulsory for cars entering the fleet by a particular date? Yes only on new vehicles being built for our market

2. SAFER WALKING AND CYCLING

a) Which of the suggested initiatives to make walking and cycling safer do you support? Have stronger promotion of road user education, including targeted messages and more national promotion, such as ‘share the road’

b) Which initiative to make walking and cycling safer is the most important to you? Have stronger promotion of road user education, including targeted messages and more national promotion, such as ‘share the road’

c) What else could we do to make walking and cycling safer ? Promote safe cycleways and walkways with new roading projects if applicable to demand

3. IMPROVING THE SAFETY OF HEAVY VEHICLES

a) Which of the suggested initiatives to improve the safety of heavy vehicles do you support? Assist companies to reduce work related road risk

b) Which initiative to increase the safety of heavy vehicles is the most important to you? Assist companies to reduce work related road risk

c) Do you have other ideas for how we can increase the safety of heavy vehicles? I feel the driving of the majority of heavy vehicles is above average as the risk of licence loss is loss of income to many

4. REDUCING THE IMPACT OF FATIGUE

a) Which of the suggested initiatives to reduce the impact of fatigue do you support? Promote the use of roadside stopping places

b) Which initiative to reduce the impact of fatigue is the most important to you? Promote the use of roadside stopping places

c) Do you have other ideas for how we can reduce the impact of fatigue? You will never stop people travelling when they want to, whether tired or not

5. ADDRESSING DISTRACTION

a) Do you support the suggested initiative to reduce the impact of distraction? Yes

b) Do you have other ideas for how we can reduce the impact of distraction? Texting definitely is a No

AREAS FOR CONTINUED FOCUS AND EMERGING ISSUES

1. INCREASING THE LEVEL OF RESTRAINT USE

a) Do you support aligning our requirements for child restraints with international best practice? (This would mean that children over five years of age could use adult seat belts only when they reach 150cm

in height). Yes

b) How could we improve seatbelt wearing rates among commercial drivers? Education, Education, Education

2. INCREASING THE SAFETY OF OLDER NEW ZEALANDERS

a) Which of the suggested initiatives to increase road safety for older New Zealanders do you support? Expand education to target older drivers

b) Which initiative to improve road safety for older New Zealanders is the most important to you? Expand education to target older drivers

c) Do you have other ideas for how we can improve road safety for older New Zealanders? Many of our licensed drivers have never seen a Road Code since they sat their Drivers Licence. Many Older people don’t have internet access to keep up to date with Road Rule changes. When licence renewals take place ALL should receive the latest Road Code to educate them. The Government needs to be responsible to keep people informed. You cannot rely on the media for awareness as many do not partake.

ROAD SAFETY EDUCATION

a) Are we putting enough emphasis on road safety education? What would you change? Many Older people don’t have internet access to keep up to date with Road Rule changes. When licence renewals take place ALL should receive the latest Road Code to educate them.

b) In your opinion does our current road safety advertising work well? What would you change? I personally believe that the people that should be watching some of the campaigns are probably too busy at the pub to see what horror is created by their actions

c) How can we better link our education efforts with other road safety initiatives? Target ALL age groups. Keep them informed

SUBMISSIONS STATEMENTS

CLOSE FRIDAY

2 OCTOBER 2009

Send submissions statements to:

Safer Journeys

Ministry of Transport

PO BOX 3175

Wellington 6140

or e-mail saferjourneys@transport.govt.nz or visit www.saferjourneys.govt.nz