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Grim road safety man hitting the streets
News Release
Tuesday 13 October 2009
Grim road safety man hitting the streets
ROTORUA 13.10.09: Rotorua’s own version of the grim road safety man, Luis Gea, will begin popping up at a variety of locations across the city this week to raise awareness of bad intersection decisions.
Mr Gea was selected from around 20 applicants to play the role of the wheel spinning man from the New Zealand Transport Agency's road safety television commercials, during a local road safety campaign.
He will be making appearances at Rotorua District Council’s Civic Centre, City Focus, Lakefront, District Library, and Kuirau Park between now and the end of the month.
RDC road safety coordinator, Jodie Lawson, says while Mr Gea will not speak or interact with passersby, he will be accompanied by a road safety specialist who will play a more vocal role.
“Failure to give way at intersections is a serious road safety issue – one of the largest causes of injury and death on New Zealand roads. This campaign aims to get people to realise that decisions around road safety are in their hands.”
She says many drivers, especially those aged between 25 and 39, are prepared to take higher risks in certain situations, such as when they’re running late.
“They know they shouldn’t push it but justify their actions with excuses. They think getting through an intersection safely has more to do with chance than their own decision-making process.
“We’ll be encouraging people to complete a road safety quiz at locations where the grim man is appearing, to test their knowledge. There are prizes to be won but to be eligible to enter the draw, all answers must be correct - you’d be surprised at how many people don’t know or have forgotten their basic road rules.”
There will also be road safety chocolate and pen giveaways promoting the new website www.roadcodepractice.co.nz where people can test their road rules awareness.
Mr Gea’s first appearance as the grim road safety man will be at the City Focus tomorrow [Wednesday 14 October] from 12pm to 2pm.
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