In this fifth edition of Project EDWARD Goes Global, we travel to New Zealand to explore how evidence-based policy and political decision-making can collide when it comes to road safety. Professor Simon Kingham, former Chief Science Advisor to the Ministry of Transport, shares his experience of helping shape the country’s “Road to Zero” strategy, and his frustration as a new government moves to reverse key safety measures, including lower speed limits.
Simon discusses the real-world consequences of sidelining science, the importance of co-benefits such as cleaner air and stronger communities, and why evidence, not ideology, must guide the path to safer roads. It’s an honest, sobering conversation about progress, setbacks, and persistence – a reminder that leadership, accountability, and valuing human life must sit at the heart of every transport decision.
