The great Kiwi road trip is a big part of the summer holidays in Aoteoroa. Half of us hit the roads, with younger people making up the majority.

Despite most Kiwis feeling safe on the roads, a third of us say road safety got worse over the holiday period.

While half of road-trippers experienced excessive speeding, only one in six considered it a problem. This acceptance of speeding, when viewed alongside the fact that slow driving was seen as almost as big a problem, may imply that messaging about the dangers of speeding is not getting traction.

When it comes to drivers, young and old alike agree that “young people” are the biggest problem followed by “tourists”.
There are significant regional differences between North and South in this regard, with South islanders more than twice as likely to consider tourists problem drivers.

Road safety messaging may therefore need to be tailored regionally. A campaign targeting tolerance for tourists could be appropriate for tourist-heavy areas such as the Queenstown Lakes district, while one targeting youth drivers could be deployed further north.

This is a quick dive into holiday driver activity. To find out more, or to understand your location in more detail, contact liz@researchfirst.co.nz