SPEED-RELATED CRASHES IN WAIRARAPA (2021–2025)

Speed-related crashes remain a major road safety concern across the Wairarapa region, which includes Masterton, Carterton, and South Wairarapa Districts. Despite fluctuations in traffic and changing travel patterns, the risk and severity of speed-related crashes have remained high.

Wairarapa Statistics & Trends

• According to Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency data, speed was a contributing factor in over 25% of fatal and serious injury crashes in the Wairarapa region from 2021 to 2023.
• In Masterton District, speed-related crashes accounted for 22% of all serious and fatal crashes between 2021 and 2023.
• In Carterton District, speed contributed to approximately 24% of serious injury crashes during the same period.
• South Wairarapa District reported one of the highest rural open-road crash rates, with speed being a primary factor in many of these incidents.
• Nationally, 352 road deaths occurred in 2019, and 26% of fatal crashes involved excessive speed, highlighting that speed continues to be a persistent and preventable risk.

Open Road Speeds in Wairarapa

• Wairarapa’s geography consists largely of rural and open roads, where the 100 km/h speed limit applies.
• However, 23% of drivers in New Zealand exceed the open road speed limit, and this trend is reflected in Wairarapa, especially during off-peak hours and on straight rural stretches.
• These roads often have limited visibility, variable surfaces, and are shared with agricultural vehicles and cyclists, making high speeds particularly dangerous.

Understanding Speed and Safety

• Speed is one of the few crash factors that drivers can directly control.
• Many drivers mistakenly believe that driving at the speed limit is always safe. In reality, the speed limit is the maximum legal speed, not necessarily the safest speed under all conditions.
• Weather, road surface, traffic, and visibility should all influence your driving speed. Safe drivers adjust their speed accordingly to reduce the risk of crashes.

Why Speed Matters

• The faster you drive, the less time you have to react.
• Higher speeds increase stopping distances and the force of impact in a crash.
• Even small reductions in speed can significantly reduce injury severity and save lives.

Be Aware Slow Down Save Lives

Driving Safely Means

• Adjusting your speed to suit road and weather conditions.
• Recognising that rural roads can be unpredictable.
• Understanding that speed affects everyone – not just the driver.

Stopping distances: speed and braking

The simple truth about speeding is: the faster you go, the longer it takes to stop and, if you crash, the harder the impact. Even small increases in speed could have severe consequences. If a pedestrian steps out into the path of an oncoming vehicle which is speeding the difference could be a matter of life or death.

In an emergency, the average driver takes about 1.5 seconds to react. Stopping  distances increase exponentially the faster you go.

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The stopping distances on the infograph are calculated based on the following assumptions:

• In an emergency the average  driver takes approximately 1.5 seconds to react
• A modern vehicle with good brakes and tyres, after braking, is capable of stopping at approximately 7 m/s2.
• A dry road that is sealed and level enables good friction between the tyres and the road to help stop the vehicle sooner.  Scientifically, it has a coefficient of friction of approximately 1.
• A wet road that is sealed and level has less friction between the tyres and the road which increases the stopping distance of a vehicle.  Scientifically, the coefficient of friction of approximately 0.7.

The stopping distances in the graph are generic and may be influenced by a number of driver, vehicle and environmental factors:

Driving safely within speed limits

Many drivers aren’t aware that they can be travelling at the speed limit and still be driving unsafely.

The speed limit is the maximum legal speed that you can travel at on a road in perfect conditions.

However, road conditions are rarely perfect. As a safe driver, you’ll have to look out for changes in traffic, road and weather conditions, and reduce your speed accordingly.

Adjust your speed to the conditions.

Traffic Conditions

• high volumes of traffic on the road
• pedestrians, joggers and cyclists
• holiday times when there are lots of visitors on the road
• parked cars.

Road conditions

Road conditions you should reduce your speed for include:

•  bumpy or narrow areas on the road
•  wet, icy or gravel road surfaces
•  signs warning of hazards such as sharp curves or a slippery surface.

Weather conditions

Weather conditions you should reduce your speed for include:

• rain, snow and ice
• wind
• fog
• bright sunlight.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A SPEEDING VEHICLE CRASHES?

A small change in speed can make a big difference to the outcome of a crash.

When a vehicle crashes, it undergoes a rapid change of speed. However, the occupants keep moving at the vehicle’s previous speed until they are stopped – either by hitting an object or by being restrained by a safety belt or airbag.

Human bodies are not designed to be hurled against objects at speed, and the faster the speed, the more severe the injuries.

RISK TO PEDESTRIANS

The speeds on a road impact how safe other road users feel to walk, bike, or travel with their children on that same road.

If a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle the severity of their injuries is related to the impact speed.

The international accepted speed to greatly reduce the chances of a pedestrian being killed or seriously injured is 30km/h.

The probability of a pedestrian being killed rises as impact speed increases, it approximately doubles between 30km/h and 40km/h, and doubles again from 40km/h to 50km/h. The risk to vulnerable pedestrians, such as the elderly and young children, is even higher.