Last year's provisional road toll, 403, is the lowest number of deaths since 1963 and an incentive to road safety officials to cut fatalities to their target of fewer than 300 by 2010.
Officials also were taking heart yesterday from figures showing December's 38 road deaths were the month's lowest toll.
But the Christmas-New Year holiday toll became 15 when a pedestrian, Joseph Nathan Brott, 16, died after being hit by a car near Christchurch about 2.40am yesterday.
David Wright, director of land transport safety for the Land Transport Safety Authority, said last year's toll - 52 fewer than the year before, was proof road safety campaigns were working.
It was not coincidental that since 1995, the start of police and the LTSA advertising and enforcing campaigns, there had been a 47 per cent drop in alcohol-related crashes and a 29 per cent drop in speed-related crashes, he said.
Another positive factor was police highway patrols. Their contribution to lower speeds had led to fewer multiple fatalities in crashes. He promised more patrols in urban areas.
The authority did not provide statistics on people seriously injured on roads last year. The latest figures out, for 2001, show 395 accidents caused 455 fatalities, 2435 serious injuries and nearly 10,000 minor injuries.
Mr Wright said he believed injuries for last year would also be down.
The aim now was to cut hospital admissions to 4500 by 2010.
Last year, as usual, the Auckland region had the most fatalities, 84, of New Zealand's 13 regions. The Auckland toll in the previous two years was in the 70s. There were 88 fatalities in 1999 and 105 in 1998.
The Waikato's 57 road deaths represent its lowest yearly toll since at least 1998, but made it second highest on a regional basis.
Otago, 12 deaths, and Taranaki, 13, had the lowest regional fatality figures for last year.
The authority said 32 of last year's road victims (269 males and 134 females) would have lived if they had worn seat belts.
The age group 25-39 had the most fatalities, 107; 40-59 (89), 60 and over (76), 15-19 (53), 53, and 20-24 (46).
