The road toll has soared to its highest level in eight years and police say we need to do better.
At midnight on New Year's Eve the annual road toll provisionally stood at 380 deaths after two people died in crashes on Sunday.
It is just four short of 2009's toll, when 384 people died.
The death toll continued to climb for the fourth year running, 2017's toll a whopping 53 more than the previous year - or more than one person a week.
Within two hours of the new year starting, a smash on a bridge in the Bay of Plenty claimed 2018's first victim. Police say a 69-year-old man died when two vehicles collided on the Maungatapu Bridge on State Highway 29A at 2.15am.
Road policing assistant commissioner Sandra Venables said yesterday drivers everywhere in the country needed to drastically improve their driving.
''Deaths and injuries on our roads have absolutely devastating impacts on families and communities,'' she said.
''There were a lot of people who missed spending Christmas and New Year's with their loved ones. They are grieving when they should be making memories.''
With so many people on our roads right now it was important everyone was more cautious and aware when driving or riding motorbikes, she said.
Police remained committed to reducing death and injury on New Zealand roads but could not do it alone and needed everyone's help to keep roads safe, she said.
''So please, when you're in your car, take care - drive to the conditions, wear your seatbelt, take breaks, don't drive after drinking or taking drugs, and put your phone away. A text message or phone call is not worth your life.''
The latest figures have prompted the Southern advocacy group to push for dropping the term ''road toll'', because it implies people are comfortable with the idea of paying for the convenience of road travel with lives lost.
Southern Road Safety Influencing Group member and Central Otago District Council roading engineer Andy Bartlett said the group would not reset the number of road deaths or count them as an annual figure as a sign of respect.
''Particularly here being in the middle of Central Otago, a road death really goes to the core of a community.''
Transport Ministry figures show there were 6726 deaths on New Zealand roads between 2000 and 2017.
Comparing fluctuations from year to year was not the ''right direction'' in terms of creating change, Mr Bartlett said.
''You see throughout New Zealand people are not happy with the level of road deaths and are having those conversations about what it's going to take to change this.''
In 2017 there were 31 road deaths in the Southern region, 18 of which were in Otago.
Otago had 20 road deaths in 2016 and 18 the year before.
Last year the group, councils and emergency responders in Otago and Southland created the ''Any Number Is Too Many'' movement to increase road safety awareness.
