Rotorua District Council programme of work supports the national road safety strategy to guide improvements in road safety over the period of 2020.
The vision for NZ is 'A safe road system increasingly free of death and serious injury'.
This approach means working across all elements of the road system (roads, speeds, vehicles and road use) and recognises that everybody has responsibility for road safety.
Rotorua District Council works with the community on the following projects to improve road safety:
Alcohol - Community education campaign delivered in summer with valuable input from Police, Fire Service, St John's, ROtorua Taxis, local SADD members (Students Against Drunk Driving) and Treasure Rotorua (Rotorua's International Safe Community project).
Campaign titled 'Alcohol kills driving skills' supports regional and national alcohol advertising and is delivered mainly through face to face interaction with the public.
Rotorua Youth Road Safety Expo - Runs in December and aims to change attitudes and improve choices our youth are making in relation to driving and alcohol/drugs. Includes parents evenings and opportunities for those in alternative education.
Driver Direction - Runs every school holidays. Two courses to cater to those wanting support to attain their license and those already in the graduated license system. Both courses are run at the MotorSport park and each young driver must provide their own car and a parent/caregiver for the day. Expert tuition and advice from AA, Police, local driving instructors and Motorsport trained staff.
Youth Intervention Course - Activity to commence 2012. Course for youth driving offenders delivered with Police Youth Services. Highlights consequences of poor decision making and the impacts on everybody, not just those immediately involved.
Back 2 School - Campaign to reduce speeding around schools and to improve children's safety on our roads.
Speed - Community education campaign to raise the awareness of speeding.
Restraints - Roadside checkpoints and promotional activities to increase the seatbelt compliance rate.
NSC - Highway education delivered via Ruru, Rotorua's 'guardian - kaitiaki' of road safety. Ruru delivers key messages via billboards located on Highways leading to and from Rotorua. Ruru's job is to warn, protect and advise of dangers on our roads. To find out more about Ruru's story click on the image below.
Agewise Drivewise - Drivers over the age of 65. The aim of this course is to: Enable older drivers to recognise the effects of the aging process on driving.
Provide them with a system to identify how their driving is affected at present or may be affected in the future.
Provide coping strategies that can be used to compensate for these effects.
Help older drivers to enjoy safe and successful mobility for as long as possible.
Walking School Bus - Walking School Buse's are a fun, safe and active way for children to get to and from school with adult supervision. Each 'bus' walks along a set route with at least one adult 'driver' picking up children and walking them to and from school.
For further information on RDC's road safety programmes, please email ruru@rdc.govt.nz