Official papers show it would cost at least $550 million to upgrade the most dangerous and well-used stretches of New Zealand roads with wire rope median barriers.
The Automobile Association says that's a small price to pay for improving safety.
Figures show it would cost between $550 million - $1.1 billion to install wire rope median barriers on 372km of high risk, high traffic volume roads that don't have a median barrier.
Ministry of Transport data shows there were 26 fatalities and 75 serious injuries from head-on, U-turn and other crashes on roads that had more than 12,000 traffic movements per day, between 2006 - 2009.
The Automobile Association says installing wires on busy roads should be a no-brainer.
It says such measures such as such as installing wire ropes and rumble strips, could prevent up to 90 road deaths per year.
