13. GORDON COPELAND (United Future) Link to this
to the Minister for Transport Safety
Is he concerned that last year drivers aged 15 to 24 were involved in 142 fatal road accidents, in which they were at fault 83 percent of the time, and that the social cost of crashes in which drivers in this age group were at fault totalled roughly $1 billion; if so, what is he going to do about it?
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN (Minister for Transport Safety) Link to this
Yes, I certainly am concerned. In the interests of further developing road safety policy, the Government recently ran the See You There—Safe As programme’s process of stakeholder engagement, which I hope United Future took the opportunity to be involved in. The young driver crash rate was highlighted as an area of concern, and I have always said it is. I hope that announcements on future policy direction will be made shortly, and I look forward to the support of United Future for those policies.
Why has the Government so far failed to take decisive action to tackle young driver crashes, in spite of the appalling death and injury statistics, the cost to Vote Health, and the pleas for action now from the young victims of these road crashes—if they are still alive—and their families?
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN Link to this
I think it is a little unfair to say that the Government has not taken steps. We have done a large number of things, beginning some time back with the introduction of specific measures to tackle boy racers, and the Street Talk and defensive driving courses. The Government has taken a large number of initiatives, and we have had some success.
Ron MarkNoting the Minister’s concerns, why has the Government not moved to make third-party car insurance compulsory, as a mechanism to make it harder for irresponsible drivers to own powerful vehicles and to misuse them?
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN Link to this
This has been an issue since I first raised it in the House in 1988. The insurance companies and Governments over that time have certainly struggled with the issue. There is a very good reason to proceed with compulsory third-party insurance, in my personal view. It is one of the issues that is currently being looked at by the Government in the process of the See You There—Safe As campaign, which has been very successful around the country. The particular initiative mentioned by the member has a large degree of support from the public.
Hon Mark GoscheHon HARRY DUYNHOVEN Link to this
Very good progress. Between the years 1999 and 2005—that is, the term of this Government for which we have accurate figures—the rate of road fatalities per 10,000 vehicles reduced by 35 percent. The number of fatalities in the last 12 months is at a level not seen since 1963, when several members of the House were not even born. Research shows there is an ongoing 8 percent reduction in young and novice driver crash rates. That reduction is associated with the graduated driver’s-licence system, which was brought in during the fourth Labour Government, and is actually now being successfully copied by many jurisdictions overseas.
Chester BorrowsDoes the Minister accept that the quota system for issuing traffic tickets, even though it is described as a performance target indicator, actually encourages police to sit at so-called fishing holes and issue tickets to lots of minor infringers, rather than sit at black spots and target those drivers at serious risk of causing death and injury?
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN Link to this
There is a certain amount of irony in that question being posed by the member; I think he, as a former serving police officer, would certainly agree that cutting down the average speed on the open road has actually benefited the road toll. But I certainly agree with him that we should be targeting those who are excessive offenders. For that reason there has been a real determination by this Government to make the highway patrol not only more visible but far more active.
Is the Minister familiar with the call by the Automobile Association—with its 1.2 million members and associates—the Insurance Council, the Accident Compensation Corporation, and the police for defensive driving and attitudinal courses and for tighter rules around new-driver licensing processes?
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN Link to this
Yes, I certainly am, and I have been involved in discussions with those organisations over a number of years. The recent See You There—Safe As programme, which was extremely successful around the country with over 1,000 New Zealanders voluntarily participating, actually saw a considerable number of these issues raised. Members can be sure that these issues are being taken into account by the Government. I look forward to making announcements, with my colleague the Minister for Transport, who is also the Minister of Police, on these issues in the future.
I seek leave to table two documents. One is a booklet, Information for Stakeholder Engagement, on the See You There—Safe As programme that we ran.
Madam SPEAKERHon HARRY DUYNHOVEN Link to this
The second is a document prepared by the Ministry of Transport on young drivers that gives a whole lot of very useful statistics on crash rates, causes, etc.