Beaming with smiles and dressed in bright orange costumes, more than 800 students from 28 schools have hit the streets of Mount Maunganui sharing important messages about road safety and active travel.

Anna Somerville: Tauranga City Council Transport Network Safety & Sustainability Manager says the annual Road Safe Orange Walk is all about celebrating primary and intermediate Travel Safe and Travel Smart students, bus monitors, and road patrols for their important roles in their school communities.

“It’s an opportunity for all the student volunteers who’ve worked so hard all year promoting road safety and helping to get their peers to and from school safely to get out here with their colourful banners and show the community what a great job they’re doing.

“It’s great to see the community, the councils, the police, and the schools all here together celebrating road safety. We’d like to acknowledge the continued work of the police school community officers and our Travel Safe team who train and encourage our young people throughout the year.”

The students headed off from Coronation Park at 9:30am with enthusiastic support from gathered family, shoppers, and staff from local businesses as they cheered, and waved their banners walking along Maunganui Road around the Pacific Avenue roundabout and back.

After the walk trophies were awarded by police to schools with the best banners.

Mayor James Denyer: Western Bay of Plenty District Council says the students have all been very creative and put in a lot of effort.

“It would be a very tough job to judge the banners.”

In the Primary School age division, Te Kura o Maungatapu won the top prize for best road safety banner, while Golden Sands School claimed the award for best active travel banner.

In the Intermediate age division, Mount Maunganui Intermediate won top prize for best road safety message for their banner

If the red man starts flashing, don’t start dashing.

Harry Lorensston: Mount Maunganui Intermediate explains the banner addresses a common challenge at his school.

“We have traffic lights and kids are always dashing when it’s the last two or three seconds left and it’s really unsafe.”

After the walk the celebration continued at Baywave, where the students gathered for a well-deserved swim and a celebratory BBQ cooked by the police.

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