Road Safety Southland hopes a youth forum will be the first step in encouraging young drivers to become champions of road safety awareness.

Road Safety Southland road user safety adviser Maureen Deuchrass said yesterday's forum in Winton was a chance for 25 young people, from six secondary schools throughout Southland, to increase their road safety awareness and guide the training they needed to stay safe on the roads.

It was hoped that the forum would lead to the development of a youth focus group, she said: "The forum's the first stepping stone, really. It's about how road crashes impact on their age group and the cost to society, so instead of being part of the problem we want [young people] to be part of the solution."

Road Safety Southland referred to the issue of teenagers involved in vehicle crashes as an ‘epidemic on wheels', Mrs Deuchrass said.

"If the same number of teenagers were dying of measles or any other disease, there would be a huge outcry, but I think we've become a wee bit complacent. We're just accepting that it's okay, but it's not," she said.

The morning session was about survival awareness in natural disasters, and the afternoon had focused on unnatural disasters - namely, vehicle crashes - she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Comments