20 August 2019
Mark Wilson
[FYI request #10790 email]
REF: OIA-5487
Dear Mark,
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your request to the NZ Police on 22 July 2019, which was transferred to the NZ Transport Agency
on 23 July 2019, requesting the following information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
‘I would like a breakdown noting the cause of all fatal road accidents in New Zealand since 2000 broken
down per year, where the cause has been determined.
For example, speed, mechanical failure etc
I would also like to know the number of fatal crashes attributed directly to mobile phone use per year
since 2000.
Can you please also provide a breakdown of the various distracted driver causes of non injury, injury,
serious injury and fatal crashes ranked.
For example, eating while driving, sun strike, mobile phone etc.’
The data you requested has been provided to you in the attached spreadsheet:
•
OIA-5487 crash factors.xlsx.
The first table in the spreadsheet shows factors contributing to fatal crashes by year. The second table shows all
crashes where mobile phone use was one of the factors contributing to fatal crashes by year. Of these, there
were seven crashes over the 2000-2018 period where mobile phone use was the sole factor contributing to the
crash. Note that mobile phone use is a subset of the poor observation factor.
The remaining tables, on the
by crash severity tab, show a breakdown of crashes where driver distraction was
one of the contributing factors by crash severity. The driver distraction factors are a subset of the poor
observation factor.
There is a full list of factors contributing to crashes at https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/guide-to-coded-
crash-reports/docs/Factors-contributing-to-crashes-for-use.pdf
It is important to note the following in relation to the information provided. This information is also provided to you
in the attached spreadsheet:
•
this data is provided from the road traffic crash database; Crash Analysis System (CAS) version 1.3.3
•
the Transport Agency maintains the CAS which is updated once a Traffic Crash Report (TCR) is
received from the NZ Police sometime after the crash
•
data is for all crashes for the years 2000 to 2018, as recorded in CAS as at 24 July 2019
•
traffic crash data covers all NZ roadways or places where the public have legal access with a motor
vehicle
•
due to the police reporting time frame and subsequent data processing there is a lag from the time of a
crash to the time full and correct crash records are available within CAS
•
due to the nature of non-fatal crashes it is believed that these are under-reported, with the level of under-
reporting decreasing with the severity of the crash
•
the cause of a crash cannot necessarily be attributed to any one factor (e.g. fatigue) as a crash may
have multiple factors
•
2018 data is incomplete and is current from CAS as at 24 July 2019
•
factors are counted once against a crash - i.e. two fatigued drivers count as one fatigue crash factor
•
the factor counts are the number of crashes where that factor was a contributing factor to the crash. The
total is the sum of all the factors contributing to crashes
•
because a crash may have multiple factors, there will be more total factors than crashes resulting in
factors totalling more than 100% of all crashes
•
the driver distraction tables contain just the driver distraction contributing factors. These crashes may
have other contributing factors not listed in those tables.
If you would like to discuss this reply with the Transport Agency, please contact Kerry Greig, Manager, Data
Services, by email to [email address] or by phone on (04) 894 5251.
Yours sincerely,
Galina Mitchelhill
Senior Manager, Research & Analytics
