Media Statement
14 February 2006
Entries closing soon for New Zealand Road Safety Awards
Got an innovative road safety project? Tell us about it and you’re in with a chance for a cash prize, but you have to
hurry.
Entries for this year’s Road Safety Innovation and Achievement Awards close on March 10. The awards showcase the road
safety initiatives of individuals, schools, community groups, local councils and businesses.
“The awards are about recognising those who are working to make our roads safer,” says Minister for Transport Safety
Harry Duynhoven.
Entries will be judged by a panel of experts and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Wellington in
May 2006. “The awards ceremony is a real celebration of success recognising those people who have made a difference,”
says the minister.
The winner in each award category receives a cash prize of $2000, with the overall Premier Award winner receiving an
additional $3000 cash prize.
This is the third year the awards programme has been run in New Zealand and previous winners have come from across the
country, recognising a wide range of initiatives.
The awards are funded by the Road Safety Trust, and administered by Land Transport New Zealand. The Awards Organising
Committee comprises representatives from the Automobile Association, AA Driver Education Foundation, New Zealand Police,
Land Transport New Zealand and ACC.
Background information for media
There are five categories, plus the premier award:
Road Safety Education Award
Road Safety Community Award
Road Safety in Organisations Award
Road Safety Vehicle-Based Award
Road Safety Road Engineering Award
Previous winners of the Road Safety Innovation and Achievement Awards
Road Safety Education Award
The 2003 award was jointly won by North Loburn School near Rangiora, for the ‘Sharing Our Roads’ education partnership
with local logging truck drivers, and Te Puru School near Thames for developing a new parking and turning area for cars
and buses, creating a safe environment for kids to come and go from school.
The 2004 Education Award winner was ‘Tricky Tracks’, a programme undertaken by a group of eight and nine-year-olds from
Edendale School near Invercargill to make an area around railway tracks near the school safer.
Road Safety Community Award
In 2003 Gisborne-based Community Injury Prevention Unit (CIP) were recognised for developing a drink-driving education
programme highlighting the devastating impact of an alcohol-related crash on the life of a promising young local
athlete.
New Lynn's Tongan Methodist Church ‘Safe in His Hands’ programme was recognised in 2004 for promoting road safety
awareness among its large congregation and in the wider community.
Road Safety Vehicle-Based Award
The 2003 award went to Transport Engineering Research New Zealand (TERNZ) for the development of the world's first
Static Roll Threshold calculator, used to measure the stability of heavy vehicles and reduce their likelihood of rolling
over.
In 2004 Databrake International won in the vehicle-based category for developing an intelligent brake lighting system to
monitor a vehicle's deceleration. When critical braking thresholds are met the vehicle's hazard warning lights switch on
- alerting other road users to the potential danger. Understood to be a world first as a retro fit, the hazard lights
flash faster and more intensely as the level of braking increases.
Road Safety Road-Engineering
The 2003 award was won jointly by the Christchurch City Council and electronic signage firm High Technology Systems for
a speed control system designed to implement temporary 40km/h speed limits in Christchurch school zones.
No entry was awarded in the Road Engineering category in 2004.
Road Safety in Organisations
Dairy company Fonterra won this category in 2003, and also took out the Premier Award, for a programme which reduced
injury accidents among the company's large fleet of milk tankers by 63%.
2004 winner Excell Corporation implemented a range of safety measures to reduce its employees' at-fault crash rate from
72 percent in 1999 to 49 percent in 2004 (and less than 30% in 2005).
For more information see: http://www.roadsafety.govt.nz/roadsafetyinnovationawards/. For entry forms phone 0800 699 000.
ENDS