in northland 2020
13
A PERSPECTIVE from SADD National Leaders Two young Northland leaders who are part of SADD (Students Against Dangerous Driving), a student-led peer to peer programme, are using their voices to advocate for safer roads.
Micaela attends Kaitaia College: “I am involved with SADD because it is studentled with the purpose of helping each other remember how important road safety is and that it affects so many other people beyond the driver. I live in a small community. On one hand, that can be an advantage because our roads are not as busy or crowded. But sometimes this can also be a disadvantage, as it is not as easy to help and aid those who do get injured or who do have a crash. In my area we have a lot of crashes due to the use of alcohol and drugs. Seeing this constantly around my community is very disheartening. My goal is to make as many students aware as possible how to keep safe on the road, to keep this knowledge and pass it on to the next generation. An added challenge in Northland is that it is hard to find both funds and support. I work with Kaitaia Police, Far North Building Safer Communities, SADD and mentors. My vision for Northland is to see everyone working together as a unit to have safer roads in Northland. In the long term crashes and accidents will reduce if everyone just supports one another.”
Ang goes to Tauraoa Area School: “In my area, we have a big issue with restricted drivers taking passengers, as well as the use of phones while people are driving. An issue that is more specific to my area is logging trucks and people either not passing them with care, observing proper distancing, or having the education around the blind spots that these trucks have. I got involved because I felt really passionate about road safety messaging and being a part of SADD would be an excellent opportunity. Groups like SADD are vital to spreading the road safety message within school groups and small communities but if we started to bring these messages into our everyday learning, they could be taken a lot further. Preparing young people for when they start driving and making sure they have knowledge around road safety and being a responsible driver is vital. Before lockdown, we were running activities quite well but now everyone has got a lot of catching up to do. SADD has not been prioritised by all and I think having road safety education in our schools and more SADD groups would help. We also want to reach those more at risk road users. We’re not partnered with anyone but we receive awesome support from the SADD team
and are wanting to work with others. We want to give students easily accessible information.” SADD National Manager Donna Govorko is thankful for their hard work. “Road trauma sadly continues to be a major contributor to deaths and serious injuries in Northland for 16-24 year olds. In 2019 71 young people died in crashes and 612 were seriously injured. Young drivers are seven times more likely to be involved in fatal or serious injury crashes than other drivers and this risk is increased during the first 6-12 months of driving solo on their restricted licence. Many of these crashes are preventable and we urge all New Zealanders to take care on our roads. Help support our rangatahi to spread road safety messages in their communities, and keep their friends and whanau safe on our roads.”
www.sadd.org.nz www.instagram.com/saddnz/ www.facebook.com/SADDNZ/
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