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The Government’s Road to Zero Strategy has taken a wrong turn, the Otago chairman of the Automobile Association says.

But police and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency say they will stay the course.

AA Otago district council chairman Malcolm Budd, of Dunedin, said the association was concerned about the 11 road deaths over the past two weekends.

It supported the idea of Road to Zero, but was disappointed by the recent fatalities, he said.

The strategy, implemented in 2020, aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand’s roads by 40% by 2030, and to zero by 2050.

It replaced the previous Safer Journeys strategy which failed to achieve a goal of a sustained drop in road fatalities between 2010 and 2020.

Mr Budd believed the Road to Zero strategy was heading in the wrong direction.

The three biggest issues were enforcement, accountability and road maintenance, he said.

"People are just basically doing whatever they want, as far as driving is concerned", Mr Budd said.

The recent single vehicle crash near Lookout Point Fire Station on the Southern Motorway, which left the driver dead, was an example.

"The speed limit is 60kmh. If he was doing 60kmh, it wouldn’t have happened," he said.

A lack of police enforcement meant offenders had a slim chance of being caught.

Waka Kotahi was overly focused on lowering speed limits and running advertising campaigns at the expense of improving roads.

There should be a greater focus on how people were taught to drive, Mr Budd said.

Assistant Commissioner Bruce O’Brien, of Wellington, said Road to Zero’s targets were ambitious but achievable.

"We do our best to be visible and take action where we see bad behaviour, but we can’t be on every single road and every single highway.

Reducing New Zealand’s road toll required an effort from everyone and people should talk to their loved ones about their risky driving behaviours.

Enforcement was undertaken where appropriate, focused on factors which directly contributed to harm.

In some cases alternative actions would be taken.

For instance, those caught driving without a licence might be referred to community providers so they could be trained to an adequate level.

"We don’t want people ending up in the criminal justice system unnecessarily."

The 11 recent deaths were "really frustrating".

Police would remain focused on the Road to Zero strategy and continue to deal with the behaviours that caused the most harm.

Police worked with road safety experts and advocates including the AA, he said.

A Waka Kotahi spokeswoman said Road to Zero included work aimed at making roads safer, including new roundabouts, median barriers, side barriers, widened centre lines and rumble strips.

Other measures included encouraging safer vehicles and road speeds and targeting unsafe driver behaviours such as fatigue, impairment and distraction.

Current road safety priorities were "absolutely" supported by research and evidence, and other jurisdictions overseas had achieved success with the model.

oscar.francis@odt.co.nz