The Hawke’s Bay Youth Road Safety Expo is being held this week at the Pettigrew Green Arena in Taradale and will continue until Friday. The event is a joint safety initiative between Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Roadsafe Hawke’s Bay, Hato Hone St Johns, Fire and Emergency NZ, and NZ Police. Over 2,000 Year 11-12 students from around the region will attend through their schools.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Road Safety Engagement Advisor, Liz Schlierike says, “This expo is an important opportunity for the agencies involved in road safety to get our key messages in front of a group of drivers that are over represented in crash statistics. If we can get the students to think about driving at a safe speed or not driving while distracted, this will hopefully improve our regional crash statistics”

Hato Hone St John Hawke’s Bay Area Operations Manager, Jimmy Lovie says, “Unfortunately, we have to attend road incidents as part of our job – often in avoidable circumstances. Following the expo, the emergency ambulance service would love youth in the area to understand that driving to conditions is key to avoiding accidents and having to come into contact with us.”

Inspector Angela Hallett, Road Policing Manager – Eastern District says, “Everyone, including our young people, have a personal responsibility when it comes to road safety. The Road Safety Expo shows youth some of the impacts of unsafe driving behaviours on our roads. This is a fantastic opportunity which educates young drivers on how a few “poor choices” can have devastating lifelong impacts for many.”

More information

• The Hawke's Bay Regional Council has a number of road and transport responsibilities including promoting road safety which it does through Roadsafe Hawke's Bay. www.roadsafehb.org.nz
• The Hawke’s Bay Youth Road Safety Expo is being held at the Pettigrew Green Arena from 6-10 May
• Over 2,000 Y11-12 students from 16 high schools are expected to attend
• The key messages for the Expo are based around the main causes of crashes for teen drivers – Alcohol, Speed, Fatigue and Distraction.

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