Road Safety Charity Honk-a-Thon

Candor Trust

August the 17th has been selected by Candor Trustees as the date for NZ's inaugural Road Trauma Remembrance Day, for it was on this date the first recorded road fatality in the world eventuated. The driver was distracted by a woman passenger whom he sought to impress, before striking a pedestrian down. Since 1908 NZ has lost over 30,000 people to crashes, and our statistics are among the OECD's worst - a stronger awareness and campaign strategy is required.

It's at the point one in fifty die 40 years prematurely in horrific crashes - and thats a National disgrace. It will take greater Public commitment to change a local war zone that has become accepted, and the realization this doesnt just affect others. Too many people are expecting luck to save their lives, in an insanely dangerous transport system featuring poor roads, poor vehicle safety, poor drivers and a dearth of modern interventions by State Agencies, enamoured of experimentation.

The Candor Trust hopes to change the depersonalising effect of the major advertising campaigns which are wasteful and wrong emphases, by raising money for a tangible memorial - online first then we shall take the message on road, as a beacon of warning and a sacred site.

Many people tell themselves white lies about road death; that it happens to others and to law breakers, and that the odds are low. None of these myths hold true. As on the new Cliff Curtis drama trauma it is every childs and every adults worst but perfectly realistic nightmare. Ot is better to think about the things collapsed vehicles and roads can do to loved ones before ever facing that ordeal.

The activities planned for the inaugural Road Trauma Remembrance Day are promotion of concerned drivers giving a long toot for the dead by supporters in the rush hour, or on arriving home on August 17th. There will be a road safety exhibit in the Capital regarding NZ's road safety experiment and the cost to the Nation's welfare, and a poetry competition.

Kiwi's are all invited to support this effort by giving a honk around 5.30pm on the big day, and if able by buying a certificate acknowledging your support on Trade Me. Certificates for honkers who plan to get in on the honk a thon are in hazard colours and listed from three to twenty five thousand dollars. Our long term goal is to raise $50,000 as noone is so neglected for remembrance as those who ended life alone from trauma.

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