Wellington Older Road Users & Urban Intersections Crash Risk Study

ViaStrada was commissioned by Wellington City Council to investigate road safety harm across two key areas of concern: crashes involving older road users (aged 65 and over) and crashes at urban intersections throughout Wellington City. Drawing on eight years of Crash Analysis System (CAS) data from 2017 to 2024, the study also compared reported crash numbers for older road users against Ministry of Health hospital admission data for the same group — revealing the true scale of serious injuries that never make it into official crash statistics. 

The findings highlighted that while Wellington is not over-represented in older road user casualties overall, it has a notably higher proportion of older pedestrian deaths and serious injuries compared to other New Zealand cities, likely reflecting Wellington's strong walking culture. One of the study's most striking findings was the degree to which CAS data underestimates harm to active mode users. For older cyclists, hospital data suggests nearly five times as many serious injuries occur outside of motor vehicle crashes than CAS records, while for older pedestrians — injured through slips, trips, and falls on footpaths and crossings — the true number of serious injuries is more than 15 times greater than what CAS captures. 

At urban intersections, while motor vehicle occupants dominate overall casualty numbers, active mode users account for more than half of all deaths and serious injuries. ViaStrada recommended that Wellington City Council undertake safety audits at identified hotspot locations, address footpath maintenance, and develop targeted safety campaigns for both older road users and the general public at intersections.