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KiwiRAP: Have New Zealand’s highest risk highways improved? (Complete)

The KiwiRAP (NZ Road Assessment Programme) initiative was introduced in 2008 as a partnership between the NZ Automobile Association, the Ministry of Transport, the NZ Transport Agency, ACC and NZ Police.

Its goal was to help to focus safety efforts and investments to sections of highway that most needed it.

Overview

To see what safety impacts have come from improvements to highways since their KiwiRAP assessments, this project looked at safety outcomes for 35 of New Zealand’s highest risk highways by comparing recent crash data with data from before their KiwiRAP assessments (2002-2006). 

The examination found an overall improvement on New Zealand’s highest risk highways with:

  • 20 fewer fatal crashes per year across the highways in this study despite traffic increasing about 50% on those routes.
  • Fatal and serious crashes reducing on average by 20.4% on the high collective risk links reported in KiwiRAP 2008. 
  • 9 highways saw crash reductions of more than 50%, while 6 highways saw an increase in crashes.

The findings show that KiwiRAP has been effective at:

  • Identifying links where investment in infrastructure can significantly reduce risk. 
  • Focusing improvement strategies on these sections to reduce deaths and serious injuries by around 30% on targeted sections.
  • Identifying links where no investment (or minimal investment) has resulted in a consistently high collective risk.

Research provider

WSP 

Project Manager

AA Research Foundation Programme Manager, Christopher Stachowski 

Reports

Kiwirap Report 2025

Appendix A - KiwiRAP 2008 High Collective Risk Routes - Maps of Improvements 1

Page last updated May 2025