Invercargill’s Sergeant Geoff Sutherland is a hero - official.

Geoff was last week (7 May) presented with the 2026 Yellow Ribbon Professional Road Safety Hero Award at the Australian College of Road Safety ‘Road Safety Conversations’ event in Auckland.

The award is from the Yellow Ribbon Road Safety Alliance, which since 2022 has sought to acknowledge the work of outstanding individuals doing all they can to keep our roads safe.

However, this 2026 achievement is the culmination of many years of Geoff stepping up with heroic efforts to keep the roads safe.

Geoff moved to Police with the Ministry of Transport merger in 1992. Road Policing has been his passion and motivation through all his years on the job.

Southland Road Policing Manager Senior Sergeant Scott MacKenzie says the energy Geoff has put into keeping roads safe over the years has made him a consummate expert.

“The way he has dedicated himself and his career to all things road safety, including prevention, education and enforcement, has been extraordinary,” says Scott.

“I would describe Geoff as the all-encompassing subject matter expert when it comes to Road Policing.”

Geoff’s boundless efforts to promote road safety have manifested in a number of ways, and through a number of initiatives in the deep south.

In the early 2000s he was heavily involved in delivering ‘The Ripple Effect’ nationwide road safety roadshow to southern secondary schools, highlighting the repercussions of dangerous driving to younger motorists.

At the other end of the age spectrum, Geoff was also instrumental in bringing the ‘Staying Safe – Mature Drivers’ education programme to motorists in their twilight years.

His educational efforts have gone even further over a range of initiatives, but one of his more significant contributions has been with the ‘Right Track’ programme.

This is an in-depth course run across weeks and involves working with drivers who are before the courts for any number of driving offences.

Geoff’s involvement reaches beyond his official capacity as a Road Safety officer and sees him volunteer a large amount of his own time to rehabilitate dangerous drivers, assisting them on their journey to becoming a safe driver and getting back on the road. Geoff is up to his 21st course - a feat that Scott deeply appreciates.

“His work on ‘The Right Track’ not only helps individuals return to the roads as safer drivers but supports them and their whānau in continuing a legacy of safer driving in their own communities,” says Scott.

“The positive impacts Geoff has had through the ‘Right Track’ can’t be overstated.”

Within his Road Policing role Geoff has somehow found the time to continually think outside the box to find new ways of delivering road safety events and initiatives.

Whether through developing Road Safety videos with the Southland Sharks basketball team, delivering child restraint safety checkpoints with Plunket, or holiday fatigue stops with Road Safety Southland, Geoff has consistently reached out to work alongside Police’s road safety partners in the communities he serves.

Winning this year’s Yellow Ribbon Professional Road Safety Hero Award is recognition of Geoff’s sustained commitment and leadership over a long time, says Scott.

“The mana that Geoff holds locally and nationally for his expertise in road safety is widely known, and he is such a worthy recipient of this prestigious award.”

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