50 Victoria Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
www.nzta.govt.nz
18 February 2022
Chuck Schooner
[FYI request #18277 email]
REF: OIA-9417
Dear Chuck
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email of requesting the fol owing information under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act):
1. Total Number of car crashes through 2020, 2021 and 2022 (to date) for comparative purposes
2. Total Number of singular car crashes
3. Total Number of multiple car crashes
4. Can you confirm if the Coroner assessed if any of the drivers suffered a sudden event in
advance
5. If not - why not? And can an assessment be done after the fact
On 9 February 2022, questions 4 and 5 were transferred to the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry will
provide you with a response to those questions separately in due course.
The data you requested for questions 1, 2 and 3 is as follows:
2020-2022 car crashes
Year
Fatal
Serious injury
Minor injury
Non-injury
Total
crashes
crashes
crashes
crashes
crashes
2020*
244
1,513
7,543
21,581
30,881
2021*
216
1,628
7,631
12,582
22,057
2022*
35
189
818
2
1,044
Total
495
3,330
15,992
34,165
53,982
2020-2022 crashes where a single car was involved
Year
Fatal
Serious injury
Minor injury
Non-injury
Total
crashes
crashes
crashes
crashes
crashes
2020*
109
723
2,981
6,768
10,581
2021*
92
717
2,945
4,047
7,801
2022*
20
90
338
448
Total
221
1,530
6,264
10,815
18,830
2020-2022 crashes where two or more cars were involved
Year
Fatal
Serious injury
Minor injury
Non-injury
Total
crashes
crashes
crashes
crashes
crashes
2020*
79
426
3,294
11,683
15,482
2021*
58
491
3,396
6,885
10,830
2022*
10
57
352
2
421
Total
147
974
7,042
18,570
26,733
* 2020, 2021 and 2022 CAS data is incomplete and but this data is current from CAS as at 17/02/2021
It is important to note the fol owing in relation to the information provided:
• This data is provided from the road traffic crash database; Crash Analysis System (CAS)
version 2.2.0
• Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency maintains the CAS which is updated once a Traffic Crash
Report (TCR) is received from NZ Police sometime after the crash.
• Data is for crashes for the years 2020 to 2022 as recorded in CAS to date - 17/02/2022.
• Data is limited to Cars (Car/Waggon, Van, SUV or Ute) crashes.
• Single car crashes involve only one vehicle in the crash and it is a car.
• Multiple car crashes involve at least two cars in the crash (and possibly other vehicles).
• A crash, to be recorded in CAS must have occurred on a road. The CAS definition of a road is
any street, motorway or beach, or a place to which the public have access with a motor
vehicle, whether as of right or not e.g. a public car park.
• Due to the police reporting time frame and subsequent data processing there is a lag from the
time of a crash to full and correct crash records 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.
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NZ had a 4-level Alert system in place starting from 21
March 2020 NZ was in Alert levels 3 or 4 until 14 May 2020. The amount of traffic on the roads
during level 4 lockdown (25 March to 27 April) was greatly reduced, which consequently
reduced the number of road crashes. Road movements under the Orange and Red levels of
the Traffic Light system would also be reduced due to the restrictions in place, so data from
these periods wil not align with previous trends.
• 2020, 2021 and 2022 data is incomplete.
If you would like to discuss this reply with Waka Kotahi, please contact Kerry Greig, Manager Data
Services, by email to [email address].
Yours sincerely
Galina Mitchelhill
Senior Manager Research and Analytics
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