New Zealand police launches pre-Christmas safety campaign

WELLINGTON, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand police and transport departments on Friday launched their pre-Christmas safety campaign to "prevent the road toll from rising any further."

"More people have died on our roads this year than any year since 2010, so something has to change," Minister of Police Stuart Nash said in a statement.

The government is doing their bit by increasing resources for the police, and looking at options to improve roads that are a high risk for fatal crashes, Nash said.

The campaign "We want you here for Christmas," launched by the police and New Zealand Transport Agency, is to educate drivers that road safety is everybody's responsibility, aiming to reduce death and injury on New Zealand roads, he said.

The focus will be on changing people's behavior around four main contributors of trauma on roads -- people not wearing their seatbelts, going too fast for the conditions, driving drunk, drugged, or tired, and being distracted by things like cell phones, Nash said. Enditem