Media Releases

Last weekend’s high road toll is proof that enforcement by itself has little effect on the number of accidents, says a leading road safety campaigner.

There were more than 800 crashes and seven deaths on New Zealand roads over the weekend, compared with 361 crashes and one death over the same weekend last year. There was a heavy police presence on both these weekends and a strict enforcement of speed limits.

Clive Matthew-Wilson, who edits the car review website dogandlemon.com, says:

The traditional car yard will soon be extinct, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.

Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says the internet has made conventional car yards unnecessary, and there are even bigger changes to come.

"Until recently, cars were often supplied to car yards by vehicle wholesalers, However, in an online world, the small car yard is largely irrelevant. The wholesaler can simply sell direct to the final customer without involving the car yard at all.”

The weekend’s triple fatality in Turangi might not have occurred if the road had been built correctly, says a leading road safety campaigner.

Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, says:

“It’s been known for decades that if the edge of a road drops down into gravel, then vehicles that drift over the edge of the road are likely to drop one wheel into gravel, slide and then lose control. That appears to be exactly what happened with the Turangi tragedy.”

Science and higher fuel prices are the main reason for April’s lower road toll, says the car review website dogandlemon.com

Provisional figures show 12 road deaths in April - the lowest for any month since 1965, when monthly records began.

Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, whose road safety research was awarded by the Australian Police Journal, says:

“Higher fuel prices mean that the highest risk group – young, working-class males – make far less trips. The less trips you make, the less accidents you have.”