Keeping safe on the road
With our partners, we’ve invested in programmes to support Kiwis in being safe on the road.
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Te Ara ki te Ora | Road to Zero
On average, one person is killed every day on our roads and another seven are seriously injured. Deaths or serious injuries should not be an inevitable cost of travelling. The Road to Zero strategy sets out a vision where no one in Aotearoa is killed or seriously injured in road crashes.
ACC is committed to Road to Zero and working with our partners such as the Ministry of Transport, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport, NZ Police, WorkSafe, and local government to reduce the number of severe road crash injuries and deaths in Aotearoa.
Supporting young Kiwi drivers with DRIVE
New Zealanders aged 16 to 24 years make up 14% of our driving population. They're involved in around 37% of all fatal crashes and 38% of all serious injury crashes. They're more likely to crash in the first six months of driving solo.
We have an ongoing partnership with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency since 2003. This is when we established the DRIVE programme to help align Government road safety efforts and address the high rates of deaths and serious injuries amongst drivers aged 16 to 24 years old.
DRIVE aims to give young drivers the knowledge to stay safe on the road. It has tips for getting your learner, restricted and full licences and information if you're teaching someone else to drive.
DRIVE - be a great Kiwi driver
Motorcycle safety
Ride Forever
The risk of death or serious injury to a motorcyclist in a crash is 21 times higher than a car driver travelling over the same distance. On average 50 riders per year lose their lives, with motorcycle riders having primary responsibility in 70% of fatal crashes.
As a result, we're committed to improving motorcycle rider skills as a key injury prevention intervention through our Ride Forever Programme.
The Ride Forever programme delivers practical riding skills coaching online and on-road. The programme has contributed to 896 fewer motorcycle-related injury claims being lodged with ACC over the past few years. This is because riders who have taken a Ride Forever course are up to 50% less likely to lodge a motorcycle accident claim.
As well as rider skill coaching, Ride Forever also includes:
- Information about protective equipment
- Tips for maintaining your bike
- News and events like Shiny Side Up
- Updates with the latest safety technology.
Find out more about Ride Forever
Roads and roadsides
A road risk profile for motorcycles was modelled in 2016, which identified that 48% of motorcycle serious and fatal injuries happen on just 3.2% of NZ’s road network.
By encouraging targeted investment towards this high-risk portion of the road network, we could expect to see a reduction of around 27% of casualty crashes for motorcycles and 31% of fatal and serious injuries.
A package of 50 of the highest risk rural routes for motorcycles was identified in October 2017, with ACC committing to invest $15.0 million for the motorcycle road safety engineering programme over a 10-year period.
We are partnering with Waka Kotahi to deliver work on the final 26 high risk rural routes. These include underrun barriers, driveway sealing to stop gravel migration onto roads, and other motorcycle specific countermeasures.
Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council (MSAC)
The Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council is a group of motorcyclists passionate about motorcycling. They provide independent assurance to the minister of ACC and motorcycle communities, that ACC is using the Motorcycle Safety Levy (MSL) fund in positive ways, which helps make riding safer for riders.