Two people died at the scene of a motorcycle crash in Timaru on Wednesday evening, while a third person also died in hospital on Wednesday following a crash near Edendale on Boxing Day.
Dunedin resident Andrew Ian Nicholson died in a motorcycle crash between Cromwell and Luggate last Wednesday, although this is not included in the national holiday road toll, which started on December 23 and ends on January 4.
AA Otago district council chairman Malcolm Budd urged drivers to do their bit towards keeping the "concerning" toll from rising.
Last year the holiday road toll was 16, while in the 2020-21 period there were 11 fatalities and in the 2019-20 period there were five.
The number of road deaths this year stands at a provisional 371 — the worst since 2018’s toll of 376.
"I’m very disappointed that we’ve had these fatalities in the lower South Island," Mr Budd said.
The Government’s nationwide Road to Zero plan, supposed to result in an incremental reduction in road deaths, was not working, he said.
Reduced speed limits were ineffective when there was a lack of enforcement, but police did not have the resources to adequately patrol the roads.
Drivers ignoring speed limits was a problem, but this was only one of the factors he believed contributed to the road toll.
People needed to use their judgement about when to slow down even under the speed limit, like on narrow, winding roads.
The risk of drivers drinking alcohol or taking drugs was also especially prominent over the holiday period, he said.
Police assistant commissioner Bruce O’Brien said last week police would be patrolling "anywhere, anytime" over the holiday period.
A police spokesman said people in the South could also expect to see police on the roads in and around new year hotspots such as Queenstown and Wanaka.
Road to Zero began in January 2020 with the goal to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 40% by 2030.
However, in November 2021, the Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency updated its forecasts to a reduction of 33%, the Otago Daily Times reported last week.
The reason was the Government’s road safety partners — police, Waka Kotahi and the Ministry of Transport — failing to deliver on their targets.
Ministry of Transport Road to Zero director Bryan Sherrit said action had been taken since last year’s revised forecast, including a public awareness campaign and more than 2.2 million alcohol breath-screening tests conducted by police in the 12 months to October 31, 2022.
Waka Kotahi was also "significantly increasing" the rollout of median barriers in 2023.
