‘Hmm’ – think about the consequences
The Government has announced its Road to Zero campaign. ACC injury prevention partner James Whitaker talks about his very personal motivation to back it.
OPINION: I was working from home and in an onlinemeeting when I saw my wife’s name flash up on my phone.
I ignored the first call but thought I better answer it when she called again.
I sprinted barefoot to the park – the site ofmy 20-year-old daughterMāia’s car crash only a few blocks from our home in Wellington’s eastern suburbs.
Confronted by glass and tyre marks going all the way up a tree, I imagined the worst.
The crash broke Māia’s wrist and caused a painful neck injury that still sometimes flares up. Things could have been much worse.
Fortunately, the car had airbags, which helped her avoid serious impact.
The other car was driven by a 20-year-oldwho failed to give way, hitting Māia’s car on the left front wheel – causing the car to spin, go off the side of the road, into a tree and back onto the road.
The airbags inflated instantly, preventing Māia from seeing things spin around and the oncoming tree. Māia is thankful for that; it has prevented flashbacks of these images playing through her mind.
I’m the dad of three girls aged 27, 22 and 14.
My wife and I have taught our two eldest daughters and their boyfriends how to drive. In a couple of years, we’ll be teaching our youngest.
I remember what it was like to be a young person feeling the thrill of driving.
Iwas a teenage dad and it gave me a sense ofmaturity and the freedom to escape the city and explore.
On one escape, Iwas driving back from a surf trip toWhite Rock on the Wairarapa coast, going a bit too fast for the narrow, winding gravel road.
Another car came around a tight corner and everything went into slowmotion. Immediately, my stomach went sick with the fear of not seeingmy daughter grow up while simultaneously looking for an exit. To the left, rock wall. To the right, a cliff with no barrier. Our car was shunted backwards, resting two metres from a cliff edge.
We were lucky to walk away with just damage to the car. In hindsight, I’ve thought of many ways I could have prevented that crash.
Around that time, Iwas confronted with the true cost to loved ones when Imet my biological grandparents for the first time.
I couldn’t meet my birth father because hewas killedby a drunk driver a few days after I was born. The woman had been drinking at the local golf club before she got behind the wheel. Hewas 23 years old and changing a tyre on his car on the side of the road.
The woman came over the bridge, swerved into the opposite lane, off the side of the road, and intomy dad.
I remember going to my dad’s room where it felt like time had stood still.
I felt their pain in that moment and a fair bit of pressure to have a lot in common with him. It was obvious they were looking tome to keep a bit of him alive.
Once again, the crash that killed him was preventable – if only the responsible driverwas exactly that, and didn’t drive after drinking.
I don’t want my daughters to lose friends or loved ones on the road, or to cause trauma for anyone else. To help, I can be there to teach and encourage my children to be safe on our roads.
It takes courage to get in a car with a teenager and learning doesn’t stop when they pass their restricted licence test.
ACC research shows young drivers aremore likely to crash in their first six months of having a restricted licence than any other time in their life.
We’ve alwaysmade sure our daughters drive the family from place to place so we can observe and offer help. It also gives you a chance to praise themwhen they do the right things – people should never lose track of how important this is.
As a part of Government’s Road to Zero efforts, ACC and Waka Kotahi have launched an online hub called Drive.
It has resources and tools for young drivers and their coaches to get through the process together.
Crashes on our roads are preventable. Please have a ‘‘hmm’’ before you get behind the wheel, think about the risks, and make the right choices to keep you and everyone else safe on our roads.