PremiumOpinionOpinion byDr Oliver HartwichNZ Herald·8 Jul, 2026 09:00 PM5 mins to readDr Oliver Hartwich is the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative.New Zealand's road toll has fallen dramatically over the past five decades, illustrating how steady, incremental improvements can produce lasting change. Photo / Sylvie WhinrayIn 1973, 843 people died on New Zealand roads. Last year, with far more people driving far more cars, the provisional toll was 272.
Nobody held a press conference, and why would they? The improvement stretched over so many decades that hardly anyone noticed it, and nobody could claim it
