Motoring deaths in the Western Bay of Plenty are coming with an increasingly higher price tag – last year totalling $27million – despite the number of fatalities in the region sitting at a record low since 1980.

A Ministry of Transport report puts the cost of each road death at $4.5million, following a spike in holiday crashes in recent weeks.

Rotorua woman Dianne Royce Rickerby died after she crossed the centreline and collided head-on with another van travelling towards Papamoa on State Highway 2 in February. Photo: Daniel Hines.

Released late last year, the Social Cost of Road Crashes and Injuries Report shows the average social cost of a single fatal road crash sits at $4.5m, up from $3.85m at June 2013, while a crash involving serious injuries costs $473,600.

In 2013, the Bay of Plenty recorded 18 fatalities compared with 23 during the previous year – giving the region a total $81m social cost output. The Western Bay had six crashes – totalling $27m.

Because each crash can result in multiple injuries of various severities, the average social cost per crash is higher than the average social cost per injury in all cases.

Social costs take into account both financial and non-financial costs incurred as a result of a crash based on the year it happened, including loss of life and quality, loss of output, medical, property damage, legal and court costs.

Western Bay of Plenty Road Policing Manager Senior Sergeant Ian Campion says people need to remember there is a high flow-on effect from any crash – not just in terms of social costs, but for the families and the number of people affected.

'We say it all the time but we really mean it, road safety is everybody's responsibility – it's not just police, it's not just the territorial people, or the people responsible for the roads,” says Ian.

'It's actually about us all doing our bit. Any death or injury on our roads has significant impact on families and our communities.”

The ministry puts the rise in social costs down to an eight per cent increase in the road toll from 2011 to 2012, when the costs were last calculated.

The road toll had since fallen. There were 254 deaths in 2013, the lowest in 60 years and down from 308 in 2012 and 284 in 2011.

Ian admits the six deaths, the lowest on record since 1980, is a fantastic result considering the average for the Western Bay was about 25 a decade ago.

But he says a death-free year on the roads is something not out of motorists' grasp following being once-considered one of the least safest areas in the country.

'It's not like it's a figment of our imagination; so it's important that everybody contributes to keeping that road toll down. It's important to recognise the role that communities play in reducing deaths on our roads.”

Fatality causes:

Analysis of the factors behind crashes in 2012 showed alcohol and speed continue to be the major contributors.

Of the 308 fatalities in 2012:

31 per cent involved alcohol or drug use.

25 per cent involved speeding.

13 per cent were caused by fatigued drivers.

12 per cent related to inattention.