Next Steps in Road Safety

National’s Safer Journeys Action Plan 2011-12 adds to road safety improvements we’ve already made and will help reduce New Zealand’s road toll.

While a lot of progress has been made on road safety in recent years, there’s still a long way to go. Our action plan includes looking at maximum time limits for learner and restricted licences, strengthening motorcycle licence testing, and making high risk roads safer.

This builds on new laws to improve the safety of young and high-risk drivers. We’ve increased the driving age from 15 to 16, made restricted licence tests tougher, introduced a zero drink drive limit for young drivers and repeat drink-drive offenders, and doubled the maximum sentence for drivers who cause death.

The action plan continues the ‘Safe System’ approach set out in National’s Safer Journeys strategy, released last year. Safer Journeys is an important part of National’s work to build a safer New Zealand.