Over 40 per cent of the vehicles driven by New Zealanders are deadly, according to the New Zealand Transport Agency.

The NZTA has compiled data showing 41 per cent of light vehicles, about 1.65 million, have 1 and 2-star safety ratings.

These are cars that don't perform well in a crash. You're twice as likely to die or be seriously injured in a crash in a 1 or 2-star than in a 5-star vehicle.

A full two-thirds of crashes that result in deaths and serious injuries involve 1 and 2-star vehicles.

To combat this, the NZTA is rolling out a new road safety advertising and education campaign designed to get more people into 4 and 5 star cars.

The "Safe Vehicles Programme" will direct people to the rightcar.govt.nz website to check the safety rating of their car.

NZTA's Senior Road Safety Manager Fabian Marsh said that while everyone inevitably makes mistakes while driving, the likelihood of a person surviving a serious crash is improved by driving better vehicles.

"We all make mistakes when driving, and some crashes are inevitable, but safer vehicles can save lives in crashes," he said.

Braden Fastier Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter has led a "Road to Zero" road safety campaign.

"Checking a vehicle's safety rating before you buy isn't often high on the list of priorities for many New Zealanders, and we'd like to see that change," he said.

The campaign is part of the Government's 'Road to Zero' strategy, which aims to reduce the road toll to zero over the next 10 years.

Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter said motorists should read up before they buy.

"It's also important that people do their own research before they buy a car," she said.

Meanwhile, the Government is implementing sweeping regulatory changes to improve the quality of cars entering the national fleet.

As of Sunday a long-flagged requirement for all vehicles entering the fleet to be fitted with electronic stability control (ESC) will finally take effect.

STUFF NZTA wants to get more kiwis into safer cars, which will have a greater chance of surviving a road accident.

"ESC greatly reduces the risk of a driver losing control of their vehicle and thus reduces the risk of crashes,"Genter said.

Meanwhile, she signalled that more mandatory vehicle standard for imported vehicles would be looked at as part of the Road to Zero plan.

Genter flagged technologies like autonomous emergency braking, side airbags, and lane-keeping technology as areas that might be looked at.