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A new report has detailed the staggering social cost of crashes in the Selwyn district.
Between January 1 2020, and December 31 2025, 620 crashes were recorded, including four fatal crashes, 67 serious injury crashes, 197 minor injury crashes and 352 non-injury crashes.
“The estimated social cost of these crashes is $203.33 million,” a report to district councillors this week said.
The social cost of road crashes measures the total economic and human impact of accidents on society, including loss of life, medical care, property damage, and lost productivity.
The number of crashes has risen by 55% in the last five years.
Of the crashes, 62% were caused by someone failing to give way or stop.
The report said Selwyn was identified as having one of the highest-risk networks in the country.
“While the likelihood of high-speed rural intersection crashes is lower than districts with higher total traffic volumes, the consequences of rural intersection crashes in the Selwyn District are often significant.
“As traffic numbers increase in Selwyn District, more intervention is required at intersections to ensure road users can travel safely,” the report said.
The report also said the number of crashes is likely under-representing actual crash numbers because many drivers involved in non-serious crashes self-present for medical treatment or do not report incidents to the police.
About 80% of crashes across Selwyn occur on local roads rather than state highways, suggesting that targeted investment in local-road intersection treatments may deliver greater safety benefits than interventions focused solely on the state highway network.
“The highest crash period is between 3.00 pm and 5.59 pm, and approximately 71% of crashes occur on weekdays.”
In July, Rolleston Volunteer Fire Brigade fire chief Marty Tier told Selwyn Times he was expecting the situation to get worse as the number of cars on Selwyn roads increases.
“That’s what we get when we have thousands of people moving out here,” he said.
Tier said the district has lacked planning and investment in its roads, which were once rural and are now urban connectors.
“They knew this day was coming; they knew Rolleston was going to be a satellite city and they’ve done nothing to secure land or think about getting the infrastructure in place.”
To help address the problem, the council has invested $420,040 in upgrading signage around intersections, using a mixture of 200m warning signs and extra ‘stop ahead’ road markings painted in red.
But many intersections will require major upgrades, which will be planned through the 2027-37 Long Term Plan.
To help the council decide which intersections should be upgraded, it uses a ranking system that measures crashes per year, the collective risk of death and serious injury, and traffic volumes.
At number one is the intersection of Shands, Weedons and Springston Rolleston Rds. It has a collective risk of death and serious injury of 5.76 and was the site of 12 recorded crashes between 2016 and 2025.
While signage upgrades were installed in the 2025/26 financial year, a roundabout was recommended to replace the existing intersection.
At number two is Walkers and Two Chain Rds. The intersection has a collective risk of death and serious injury of 2.23 and was the site of four recorded crashes between 2016 and 2025.
A roundabout is planned for the intersection in 2027 as part of the overall upgrades around Rolleston.
The intersection of Curraghs and Jones Rds is ranked third. It has a collective risk of death and serious injury of 2.21 and was the site of eight recorded crashes between 2016 and 2025.
Safety upgrades were completed in 2020, but a roundabout has also been recommended.