Celebrating road safety’s heroes
Families and communities are being encouraged to take part in Road Safety Week from May 9 to 15 and join hundreds of communities, schools and organisations running activities to help raise awareness of road safety.
Road Safety Week is coordinated by Brake, the road safety charity, and sponsored by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and Beca.
This year the week has the theme Road Safety Heroes, recognising the professionals who are working to make roads safer for everyone — from designing safer roads to caring for people after a crash. The theme will also focus on the part everyone who uses roads can play in making journeys safer.
The week will also highlight the safe system approach to road safety and will encourage people to learn more about it, how it links to the national road safety strategy Road to Zero, and about the system design solutions that can enable everyone to get around in safe and healthy ways.
Brake is encouraging families and community leaders to go to www.roadsafetyweek.org.nz/communities to register for a free online action pack of resources.
Road Safety Week has been engaging communities in road safety for over 10 years and is a great chance for community groups, families and schools to take action on local road safety issues and raise awareness.
Caroline Perry, Brake’s NZ director, said: “We believe it’s everyone’s human right to be able to get around in a safe and healthy way every day. There are lots of people who work to make our roads safer, to save lives when crashes happen, and to support those affected by crashes. So this Road Safety Week we want to recognise all these Road Safety Heroes and highlight how everyone can be a hero too. We want everyone to learn about the design-led solutions that help to save lives and end suffering from road trauma, and create a safe and healthy future for all.
“Parents and community groups can help get these vital messages out to families, young people and local drivers, making a difference to their local community. I would encourage anyone who hasn’t already registered to head to www.roadsafetyweek.org.nz/ action-pack and sign up now for their free action pack.”
Kane Patena, director of land transport, Waka Kotahi, said: “To achieve a vision of an Aotearoa New Zealand where there are no deaths and serious injuries on our roads, we need to work together. Every day there are many people working hard to make our roads safer and deliver Road to Zero, New Zealand’s road safety strategy. Road Safety Week is a great opportunity to celebrate these road safety heroes — it takes everyone to get to no one. Mātātou e kore tētahi e hinga.”
Andrea Rickard, general manager transport and infrastructure at Beca, said: “We are proud to support Brake, Waka Kotahi, our partners and everyday community heroes across Aotearoa, with this vital mahi of improving road safety. Working together to deliver safer journeys for all transport users, and to reduce the devastating impact to our communities from deaths and serious injuries on our roads is incredibly important to us at Beca.”
Brake is also encouraging fundraising as part of Road Safety Week. Fundraising activities such as Road SafeTee Days and Go Yellow days all help to support the charity. Fundraising ideas can be found at www.roadsafetyweek.org.nz/ fundraise. Brake is also looking to showcase local road safety stories.
If you have a local Road Safety Hero you want to recognise, have successfully campaigned for safer roads in your area, have a local road safety issue you want to raise awareness of, or you have been injured or bereaved in a road crash and would be willing to share your story, please contact Brake on 021 407 953 or info@brake.org.nz.