Emergency services at the scene of a serious crash on Cove Rd, Northland, in April, last year. The region's 2025 road toll was 24 - the lowest in five years - but more still needs to be done. Photo / NZME
Northland’s road toll dropped last year, but with the number of deaths the fifth-highest in the country – and almost 40% from not wearing seatbelts – far more needs to be done, a road safety campaigner said.
And while almost half the deaths are in the Far North, the issues that are causing the fatal crashes are the same across the whole region, RoadSafe Northland road safety co-ordinator Ashley Johnston said.
The number of deaths on Northland’s roads last year was 24, the lowest total for five years, and down in all three districts.
But with the majority of deaths caused in part by poor driver behaviour, motorists needed to take a good look at themselves – and communities needed to do more – to prevent more fatalities and serious harm on the region’s roads, Johnston said.
Nationally, the 2025 road toll was 273, down from 292 in 2024, 342 in 2023 and 371 in 2022, and Northland was continuing that downward trend, Johnston said.
But she said far more work was required to get to no deaths on our roads, with police focusing on enforcement of the road rules and driver education, along with improving infrastructure, all contributing to the drop.
Of the 2025 total, 11 deaths were in Whangārei (population around 100,000), 11 in the Far North (73,600) and two in Kaipara (26,300). However, while the high Far North numbers are concerning, all three districts have seen a fall in road deaths on 2024 – Whangārei had 14 in 2024, the Far North 13 and Kaipara three.
“It’s really important that we aim for no deaths on our roads ... [The road toll] is reducing all across Northland, which is really positive, but until it’s down to zero, I won’t be celebrating,” she said.
“It’s easy to just look at the statistics and say they are coming down, but behind each of those numbers are families and friends and loved ones all badly affected by them. It’s 24 deaths, but they affect hundreds and thousands of people, with ongoing and long-term impacts. When a community loses somebody on their roads, there are so many flow-on effects, so it’s much bigger than that one statistic. That statistic is actually somebody’s sister or brother or mother or father or other loved one.”
Johnston said it was shocking that around 40% of Northland’s road deaths are the result of people not wearing seatbelts.
“That’s really concerning. A lot of these crashes are survivable if the people were wearing their seatbelts or restraints. We are really over-represented in the number of people not wearing seatbelts. Many were ejected from the vehicle by not wearing a restraint, and that can lead to death or serious injury.”
Northland’s 2025 road toll was the fifth-highest in the country, behind Waikato (60), Auckland (40) Canterbury (32) and Manawatū/Whanganui (32), despite the region having only 4% of the country’s population.
Northland’s road death rate is 19.4 per 100,000 people, more than 10 times higher than Auckland’s (1.8) – and Johnston was sure of the main reason for that.
“A big part of that comes down to driver behaviour. The majority of our deaths and serious injuries relate to driver behaviour – not wearing seatbelts, speeding, impatience, impairment from alcohol and/or drugs – so we, as drivers, need to take a good look in the mirror at our behaviour,” she said.
“That’s why the police are doing such a good job and stepping up with their enforcement and education. You need that twin approach, enforcement and education is the way forward, but motorists also need to step up.”
Johnston said it was important that friends, community and whānau members also stepped up to call out poor behaviour to help drive the road toll down.
“Calling out poor driving behaviour is a powerful tool. Peer pressure, and setting a good example, can have far more of an impact on behaviours of some motorists than other methods. It’s got to be a response from the whole community to get to that [zero road deaths] on our roads.”
Superintendent Steve Greally, the national director of road police, said while road deaths across the country were falling, far too many families were still having to deal with the tragedy of losing a loved one in a crash.
Police are crediting the fall in deaths to an initiative launched in late 2022. Operation Open Roads focuses on increased roadside enforcement, especially breath-testing, speed checks and targeting high-risk driving behaviours on the country’s open roads.
“Over the last three years, we have seen constant reductions in the number of fatalities on our roads, while we have also nearly tripled the number of alcohol breath tests in that same period,” Greally said.
“For another year, our officers have worked tirelessly to ensure we can do everything possible to reduce the number of serious injuries and fatalities on our roads.”
Police conducted nearly 4.5 million alcohol breath tests in the 2024/25 financial year and issued more than 500,000 speeding infringements.
■ So far this year, three people have died on Northland’s roads.
2025 – 273
2024 – 292
2023 – 342
2022 – 371
2021 – 320
Northland Road Toll:
2025 – 24
2024 – 27
2023 – 38
2022 – 33
2021 – 33