AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL

MEDIA RELEASE

23 April 2007

Hard-hitting road safety message by students for students

Young people and Auckland City Council have devised a campaign to target youths at risk from speeding and drink driving as part of Global Road Safety Week.

The annual, international road safety initiative is this year focusing on young road users. The council sought students’ advice on how best to get hard-hitting messages about the dangers of speeding and drink driving across to their peers.

Ten students representing Auckland secondary schools have created the campaign slogan “Not much is too much – drive sober” and selected red as the campaign colour.

The programme, supported by New Zealand Police and the Brain Injury Association, will be presented at Sacred Heart College on Thursday, 26 April, and Tamaki College on Friday, 27 April, before being rolled out at secondary schools across the city.

A police youth education officer, and a Brain Injury Association member who has sustained a brain injury from a road crash, will speak to students. The police booze bus will also be on-site.

Chairperson of the council’s Transport and Urban Linkages Committee, Councillor Richard Simpson, says he is pleased students have been involved in the project from the outset.

“The council is committed to working with the community to help address issues around road safety. These young people are on the pulse and can help us reach out to those at risk from drink driving, speeding and other dangerous driving practices,” he says.

“Alcohol and speed are the major contributing factors for young drivers involved in fatal crashes. Young drivers often have a car full of passengers, which makes it even worse.”

New Zealand Police Auckland city road policing manager, Inspector Heather Wells, says the police are arresting an increasing number of people for drink driving, particularly drivers under 20-years-old.

“An anti-drink driving blitz we carried out last month caught 91 people driving with excess breath alcohol and 26 of these drivers were teenagers,” says Ms Wells.

“One 16-year-old, who had passengers in the car, was six times the legal limit and wasn’t licensed. It was just fortunate that we apprehended her before there was a serious accident.

“It’s great to be working alongside Auckland City Council and other partners on a community-based project that aims to reach students like these before they face the wrong side of the law,” she says.

ENDS

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