Too many road deaths
Northland road policing manager Inspector Wayne Ewers is sick of picking up dead and injured people off our roads.
So far this year 19 people have died on Northland roads, due to drink driving, drugs, speeding and not wearing seatbelts. Of those 12 deaths were in the Far North.
Now community group Far North REAP and Petricevich Buses in Kaitaia have teamed up and renewed the ’One Tear Too Many’ campaign to drive home the safety message, in a bid to prevent further deaths.
The safety messages ‘Slow Down’, ‘Drive Sober’ and ‘Seatbelts On’ that have lined State Highways on billboards throughout the Far North and Whangarei, will also be promoted on the company’s school buses.
Inspector Ewers supports the campaign.
‘‘People don’t seem to be listening to the basic messages of don’t drink and drive, don’t speed and [do] put on your seatbelt,’’ he says.
‘‘Here in Northland there have been 19 deaths this year already, eight of those were not wearing seatbelts, a number of them appear to have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, another group are speeding and sometimes all three of those are mixed in one accident.’’
Ewers says the most frustrating aspect of his job is picking up dead and injured people off the road.
‘‘To tell their loved ones, they aren’t coming home, that’s not a very nice thing to do. If they had followed those three simple rules, our 19 road deaths would be alive today.’’
Far North REAP spokesperson Kiri Sloane-Hobson says the refreshed campaign will renew interest in road safety messages at a local level.
‘‘The impact on whanau and community of drivers choosing to speed, drink drive and not wear their seatbelts is a painful one. We have lost 12 people in the Far North district in the last seven months.’’
The billboards and the buses feature the image of a woman with one tear representing Papatuanuku, Mother Earth, and the one tear signifying one death on our roads as too many.
In 2016, 27 fatalities occurred in Northland, nine of which were in the Far North according to NZTA statistics.
❚ Do you think our roads are safe? What else could we do better? Email jenny.ling@fairfaxmedia.co.nz
Inspector Wayne Ewers