Entries closing soon for Road Safety Awards
Media Statement
14 February 2006
Entries closing soon for New Zealand Road Safety Awards
Got an innovative
road safety project? Tell us about it and you’re in with a
chance for a cash prize, but you have to hurry.
Entries for this year’s Road Safety Innovation and Achievement Awards close on March 10. The awards showcase the road safety initiatives of individuals, schools, community groups, local councils and businesses.
“The awards are about recognising those who are working to make our roads safer,” says Minister for Transport Safety Harry Duynhoven.
Entries will be judged by a panel of experts and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Wellington in May 2006. “The awards ceremony is a real celebration of success recognising those people who have made a difference,” says the minister.
The winner in
each award category receives a cash prize of $2000, with the
overall Premier Award winner receiving an additional $3000
cash prize.
This is the third year the awards programme
has been run in New Zealand and previous winners have come
from across the country, recognising a wide range of
initiatives.
The awards are funded by the Road Safety
Trust, and administered by Land Transport New Zealand. The
Awards Organising Committee comprises representatives from
the Automobile Association, AA Driver Education Foundation,
New Zealand Police, Land Transport New Zealand and
ACC.
Background information for media
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
Previous winners of the Road Safety Innovation and
Achievement Awards
Road Safety Education Award
The
2003 award was jointly won by North Loburn School near
Rangiora, for the ‘Sharing Our Roads’ education partnership
with local logging truck drivers, and Te Puru School near
Thames for developing a new parking and turning area for
cars and buses, creating a safe environment for kids to come
and go from school.
The 2004 Education Award winner was ‘Tricky Tracks’, a programme undertaken by a group of eight and nine-year-olds from Edendale School near Invercargill to make an area around railway tracks near the school safer.
Road Safety Community Award
In 2003 Gisborne-based
Community Injury Prevention Unit (CIP) were recognised for
developing a drink-driving education programme highlighting
the devastating impact of an alcohol-related crash on the
life of a promising young local athlete.
New Lynn's Tongan Methodist Church ‘Safe in His Hands’ programme was recognised in 2004 for promoting road safety awareness among its large congregation and in the wider community.
Road
Safety Vehicle-Based Award
The 2003 award went to
Transport Engineering Research New Zealand (TERNZ) for the
development of the world's first Static Roll Threshold
calculator, used to measure the stability of heavy vehicles
and reduce their likelihood of rolling over.
In 2004 Databrake International won in the vehicle-based category for developing an intelligent brake lighting system to monitor a vehicle's deceleration. When critical braking thresholds are met the vehicle's hazard warning lights switch on - alerting other road users to the potential danger. Understood to be a world first as a retro fit, the hazard lights flash faster and more intensely as the level of braking increases.
Road Safety Road-Engineering
The
2003 award was won jointly by the Christchurch City Council
and electronic signage firm High Technology Systems for a
speed control system designed to implement temporary 40km/h
speed limits in Christchurch school zones.
No entry was
awarded in the Road Engineering category in 2004.
Road
Safety in Organisations
Dairy company Fonterra won this
category in 2003, and also took out the Premier Award, for a
programme which reduced injury accidents among the company's
large fleet of milk tankers by 63%.
2004 winner Excell
Corporation implemented a range of safety measures to reduce
its employees' at-fault crash rate from 72 percent in 1999
to 49 percent in 2004 (and less than 30% in 2005).
For more information see: http://www.roadsafety.govt.nz/roadsafetyinnovationawards/. For entry forms phone 0800 699 000.
ENDS