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Being safe on the road - rules and reasons

Road safety is everybody’s responsibility. Police is committed to reducing death and injury on our roads, and we work alongside our road safety partners to do this. But we cannot do it alone, we need everyone’s help to keep our roads safe.

Seatbelts

A third of drivers and passengers who die on our roads aren’t wearing their seatbelts – seatbelts save lives. This is about 100 people every year. 

Mistakes happen on the road and wearing your seatbelt could be the difference between you making it out of a crash alive, or not.

Regardless of how fast you’re travelling, wearing your seatbelt properly will reduce your risk of getting injured – or even worse, dying. Being properly restrained reduces your chance of death or serious injury in a crash by 60 percent in the front seat and 44 percent in the back seat.

That’s why New Zealand law requires drivers and passengers vehicles to wear seatbelts and have children in car seats.

Fatigue

Fatigue is more than just feeling tired, it’s a state of physical and mental exhaustion which results in the loss of alertness and concentration. For more information see our partner NZTA website Driver fatigue | NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.

Fatigue is a factor in many road crashes.

Before you start your drive make sure you are well rested and have had a good meal beforehand. When you plan your journey include breaks so that you can eat, hydrate, rest and stretch. You might be able to share the driving so that you both can keep focused and alert. If you start to feel drowsy pull over and stop for a quick nap. Remember it’s better to arrive late than not at all.

Driving with your phone

When you’re driving, your focus should be on the road and getting everybody in your car to the destination safely. Put the phone away and keep your eyes on the road, this includes when you've stopped at traffic lights. Things can change around you in a split second, and if you’re not paying attention you may not have time to react and avoid a crash.

Drivers can use a mobile phone to make a call while driving only if it is an emergency situation and unsafe or impracticable to stop the vehicle to make the call.

New Zealand Legislation website to read the Rule's clause referring to use of mobile phones.

Under the Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 drivers can't use, while driving, a hand-held mobile phone to:

  • make, receive or terminate a telephone call
  • create, send or read a text message or email
  • create, send or view a video message
  • communicate in a similar or any other way.

Penalties are an $150 fine and 20 demerit points.

Alcohol limits when driving

Alcohol and/or drugs are a major factor in crashes on our roads. If you are in any doubt at all about being safe or legal to drive after drinking, don’t – it’s not worth it.

The alcohol limit for drivers –

aged 20 and over is:

  • 250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath (mcg).
  • The blood alcohol limit is 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood (mg).

aged under 20 is:

  • The limit is zero.

The law says you must not drive if the amount of alcohol in your blood or breath exceeds these limits.

The number of alcoholic drinks you can have before you reach these limits depends on many factors, including whether you are male or female, your size and how much food you have eaten.

Even small amounts of alcohol can affect your driving, so if you drink at all, don’t drive.

  • Think ahead - it’s always easier if you have a plan.
  • Call a taxi or ride share.
  • Take a bus or get someone who hasn’t been drinking to drive you home.

If you’re driving and a breath test shows you have more than 250mcg of alcohol per litre of breath, you will be required to take an evidential breath test (EBT), usually in a booze bus or at a police station.

If this confirms you are over 250mcg, you will likely be forbidden to drive for 12 hours. You will need to arrange a lift or have someone come and drive your car.

Drugged-driving

As with alcohol, it is an offence to drive while impaired by drugs or with drugs present at a level that indicates recent use. Qualifying drugs may be legal, illegal, or prescription medicine.
Drug driving offences treat illicit drugs and prescription medicines the same because both can impair a person’s ability to drive safely and be a road safety risk.
Police may carry out a compulsory impairment test (CIT) on drivers they suspect of driving under the influence of drugs under the Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Act 2009.
If the test shows that the driver is impaired, it will be followed by a blood test.
With the legislative changes under the Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment Act 2025, Police can now also test drivers for drugs any time, anywhere, using an oral fluid test, without having cause to suspect drug consumption.
If the oral fluid screening test detects THC (cannabis), methamphetamine, MDMA or cocaine, it will be followed by laboratory analysis of an oral fluid (saliva) sample collected from the driver.

The compulsory impairment test (CIT)

The CIT involves:

  • an eye assessment – pupil size, reaction to light, lack of convergence and nystagmus (eye movement – irregular eye movement is a marker for impairment)
  • a walk and turn assessment
  • a 1 leg stand assessment.

Roadside drug driving testing

Roadside drug driving testing involves:

  • A drug screening test where a driver wipes the screening device’s pads on their tongue to screen for THC (cannabis), MDMA (ecstasy), cocaine and methamphetamine (at a level that indicates recent use of the drug).
  • If no drugs are detected, the test is disposed of, and testing is complete.

If the screening test detects a drug(s), the driver must:

  • Provide a saliva sample by holding an absorbent collection pad under their tongue. The saliva sample is sent for laboratory analysis.
  • A driver may elect to provide a separate saliva sample for their own laboratory analysis (at their own cost).
  • Complete a second drug screening test (just like the first).
  • If the second drug screening test is also positive, the driver will be forbidden to drive for 12 hours. They will need to arrange a lift or have someone come and drive their car.
  • If the second drug screening test is negative, the driver will be free to go (as long as other Police procedures are completed) but the saliva sample will still be sent for laboratory testing.

Laboratory testing:

  • The saliva sample collected is sent to a laboratory to test for the 25 drugs under Schedule 5 of the Land Transport Act 1998.
  • An infringement notice will be issued to the driver if their sample tests positive for one or more of these 25 drugs.
  • Penalties are a $200 fine and 50 demerit points for one qualifying drug detected and $400 fine and 75 demerit points for two or more qualifying drugs detected.

Drugs are tested against a threshold (limit) that indicates recent use of the drug. This helps avoid a positive test result where a driver may have had passive or accidental exposure to drugs which is unlikely to cause impairment.

As with alcohol, drug metabolism varies significantly between individuals based on factors such as dosage, frequency of use, and personal physiology.

Medical defence is not available at the roadside. However, medical defence can be applied once the infringement offence notice is issued. This requires a current prescription, and medication having been taken as prescribed.

More information

Speed limits

In any crash – no matter what the cause – the outcome depends on speed. It’s the single biggest determinant in whether anyone is killed, injured, or walks away unharmed. Less speed means less harm in a crash.

Read about speed limits and enforcement.

Illegal street racing

Drivers who use their vehicles in an anti-social manner are a threat to public safety and can cause excessive noise, disruption and intimidation. There are offences which make it illegal to race, make an unnecessary exhibition of speed, or pour substances onto the road to induce loss of traction.

Illegal street racing and the anti-social use of vehicles can result in offences including losing your licence and impounding your vehicle.

More information: Land Transport Act 1998 No 110 (as at 05 April 2025), Public Act 22A Persons not to engage in unauthorised street or drag racing, or other related prohibited activities on roads – New Zealand Legislation

Legitimate car clubs

The provisions in the Act are aimed at preventing only activities which create a public nuisance or threaten public safety. There is no intention of targeting safe and non-disruptive activities and it is unlikely that the activities of legitimate clubs breach the provisions in the Act.

Some car events already require local authority permission to be held. If permission is granted, illegal street racing bylaws (such as those prohibiting 'cruising') would not apply.

Cruising refers to drivers circling specified streets within defined periods of time, drawing attention to the power or the sound of the vehicle, or creating a convoy that impedes the flow of traffic.

Crushing cars

A provision for vehicle seizure and destruction is included in the Sentencing Act 2002 No 9 (as at 02 March 2025), Public Act 128 Confiscation of motor vehicle – New Zealand Legislation.