Call for greater care after more pedestrians die

There has been a sharp increase in deaths compared with this time last year, as well as a big rise in pedestrian fatalities.

It has been a bad year on the roads, with a sharp increase in deaths compared with this time last year, as well as a big rise in pedestrian fatalities.

Wednesday's crash on State Highway 73 south of Kumara, which killed a female tourist, took the road toll to 269 so far this year - 38 deaths more than the 231 at this time last year.

National road policing manager Carey Griffiths warned drivers to be "mindful" and to adopt a no-alcohol and no-speeding approach.

Ministry of Transport figures released yesterday showed the deaths from 247 fatal crashes so far this year included 12 children aged under 14.

The number of passengers killed rose from 43 last year to 58 so far this year, while the number of cyclists killed on the roads increased from eight to 10.

The rise in pedestrian deaths was the largest increase - jumping from 27 to 41.

Mr Griffiths said alcohol was a major factor in road deaths, including pedestrian deaths, warning people against "drunk-walking".

"You get these [people], particularly young men, walking down the middle of the road in dark clothing, or lying in the middle of the road, while they're really intoxicated.

"Alcohol causes a lot more problems than just drink-driving, and the drunk-walking is one of them.

"So one of the messages we're really looking to push is for people to look out for their mates.

"If your mate's trolleyed you certainly don't want to be letting him or her wander off by themselves because they can just get into all sorts of bother."

While this year's road toll had risen from last year it was "probably closer to where the trend would have us", Mr Griffiths said. It was still lower than the 276 deaths of 2012.

January and February had been "pretty good" and the four months from June to September were a record low quarter, he said.

But high death tolls in April, May, October and November had lifted the figures.

"One of the reasons we focus so much on speed is it's very difficult to prevent crashes because of inattention, but what we can control is the speed in the equation and that determines the level of injury severity," Mr Griffiths said.