Green light for 2004 New Zealand Road Safety Innovation Awards

The road safety equivalent of the Oscars are now open for schools, community groups businesses and individuals to enter and showcase their road safety projects.

The 2004 Road Safety Innovation Awards recognise innovation in road safety, and encourage individuals and organisations in the road transport industry, business sector and community to pursue innovative practices to improve road safety.

Open from today (19 July) until 26 October, entries in the 2004 awards will be judged by a panel of experts. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Wellington in February 2005.

The inaugural Road Safety Innovation Awards were held last year and the top prize went to dairy company Fonterra for a comprehensive programme aimed at improving the safety of the company's large fleet of milk tankers. This programme helped to reduce injury crashes among the company's tanker fleet by 63%.

The winner in each award category receives a cash prize of $2000, with the overall Premier Award winner receiving an additional $3000 cash prize.

There are five categories, plus the Premier award:

Road Safety Education Award

Road Safety Community Award

Road Safety in Organisations Award

Road Safety Vehicle Based Award

Road Safety Road Engineering Award

Road Safety Awards two of two

Inspired by the Prince Michael Road Safety Awards in the UK, the New Zealand awards highlight examples of road safety innovation in this country with the aim of encouraging others to follow suit. To be eligible for the awards, innovations must have originated within New Zealand or have been significantly adapted for New Zealand conditions.

The awards are funded by the Road Safety Trust, and administered by the Land Transport Safety Authority. The Awards Organising Committee comprises representatives from the Automobile Association, AA Driver Education Foundation, New Zealand Police, Land Transport Safety Authority and Accident Compensation Corporation.

The Road Safety Trust is a Crown entity that receives its funding from a share of the proceeds of personalised licence plate sales. Trustees are appointed by the Minister of Transport.

For more information see our website: http://www.roadsafetyinnovationawards.org.nz

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