Road deaths: 2017 shaping to be the gloomiest year since 2010

November 6, 2017 by Alastair Sloane

Road deaths in New Zealand this year are shaping to average around 80 for every million inhabitants, the gloomiest statistic since the average 86 in 2010.

The road toll going into the second week of November stood at 323, compared to 274 at the same time last year.

That’s a monthly average in 2017 of almost 32 deaths against 27 last year. Driver deaths were up 26 per cent, to 170 from 135.

Fatal crashes to November 6, say Ministry of Transport statistics, were up 22 per cent, from 237 last year to 289.

In the years 2011-2016, an average 70 people out of every one million in NZ died on our roads. In Australia, the average over the seven years was 54. In Norway, it was 34.

2010 – road toll 375, NZ population 4.35m – average 86 deaths per million

2011 – road toll 284, NZ population 4.38m – average 65 deaths per million

2012 – road toll 308, NZ population 4.40m – average 70 deaths per million

2013 – road toll 253, NZ population 4.44m – average 57 deaths per million

2014 – road toll 293, NZ population 4.51m – average 65 deaths per million

2015 – road toll 319, NZ population 4.59m – average 70 deaths per million

2016 – road toll 328, NZ population 4.69m – average 70 deaths per million

2017 – road toll … NZ population 4.71m – average … deaths per million

The fewest road deaths in the European Union in 2016 were those in Norway and Switzerland, with 26 per 1 million inhabitants, followed by Sweden and Great Britain, with under 30 per 1 million.

Regional deaths in NZ in past 5 years.

If you are in a position to shell out upwards of NZ$600,000 for the 60^thanniversary Porsche 911 S/T or optional Porsche 911 S/T Heritage, you’ll no doubt want the signature titanium watch that goes with it. That’s how Porsche figures it anyway. Or, if you want the watch you’ll need to get the car. Both the car and the watch are limited to 1963 units, the year the original 911 model broke cover. The watch – Chronograph 1 911 S/T and Chronograph 1 911 S/T Heritage – and the car carry matching edition numbers. The watch is priced at $US13,500, or around $NZ22,200. The car, says Porsche NZ, starts at $NZ608,000. A “strictly limited number” will go into production for NZ early next year.

Eight European Union countries are pushing to weaken new EU emissions limits for cars, saying they are overly ambitious and unrealistic for carmakers to hit. The eight countries – France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – said in a joint paper that parts of the proposed Euro 7 regulation, including curbs on exhaust pipe emissions, should be scrapped entirely. They said the limits would force carmakers to invest in improving exhaust emissions performance, money which would be better spent on developing zero-emission vehicles. Taken together, the countries would have enough votes to block the proposal.

A go-anywhere EV concept for the US military uses an onboard 12kW diesel generator to top up the batteries on the move. The all-wheel-drive has 800-volt technology and a 200kWh battery pack to power three electric motors, two in the rear and one up front. Claimed output is 745kW/15,590Nm, or 1000hp and 11,500 ft-lb of torque. The four-seater was developed by the defence division of General Motors and is based on the platform of the Hummer SUV. It rides on Fox performance shock absorbers and 37-inch tyres and comes with “exceptional” approach and departure angles for off-road mobility. Maximum range using the generator to keep things ticking over is said to be around 500km.

The outside temperature in Midland, Texas, was 40.5C when staff at the local office of the US National Weather Service set out to show the cabin of a closed car can literally get baking hot in summer. They mixed up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and laid them on the car’s dashboard – the surface of which showed a temperature of 87.7C. A little over four hours later the cookies were ready to eat. “Even though ours weren’t golden brown, we can confirm that they are done and delicious,” the staff wrote on Facebook.