With eight road deaths during 2012, the Western Bay has bucked the national trend, recording its lowest road toll in more than 30 years.
There were seven fatal crashes resulting in eight deaths on Western Bay roads, compared to 14 fatalities in 2011.
"2012 will go down on record as the lowest recorded road toll the Western Bay of Plenty has seen since at least 1980," said Western Bay police area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton.
The provisional national road toll for 2012 was 318, compared to 284 fatalities in 2011, 375 in 2010 and 385 in 2009. Mr Paxton said while the eight deaths during 2012 were still "eight deaths too many" it remained a remarkably low rate compared to some years ago.
"Any death or serious injury on our roads has significant impacts on families and our communities. Ideally, we would love to have no deaths at all on our roads but to finish the year in single figures is testament to the hard work put in by our communities and partner agencies promoting road safety," he said.