Has Cycling Safety in New Zealand improved?

Following five cycling deaths in New Zealand during November 2010, the Chief Coroner instigated a national Inquiry to identify any common trends or information that could prevent a re-occurrence of such tragedies. An expert Cycling Safety Panel subsequently convened by the NZ Transport Agency in 2014 made 35 recommendations for improving cycle safety in their final report.

Since then, approximately two-thirds of the recommendations have been implemented or are being progressed, although many relating to heavy vehicle protection and driver training have not been followed through.

Meanwhile, from ongoing personal monitoring and analysis by the author, cycle deaths and serious injuries in NZ have not shown any prolonged downward trend, although there has been a notable (30%+) increase in cycling observed in recent years, which suggests that the relative risk per person is improving.

At the 2023 Australasian Road Safety Conference, Glen Koorey gave a presentation reviewing trends in cycle casualties over the past ~15 years and identified areas for further improvement, including regulatory changes, infrastructure improvements, and speed management. The full presentation can be found here (6MB PDF).