Road Safety Week is an annual week where we focus on what we can all do to improve the safety of all our road users. Road Safety Heroes was the theme again this year, a chance to acknowledge everyone involved in making our roads safer be it first responders, traffic management, doctors and nurses, roading engineers, school patrols, and the list goes on.
We can all play a part in improving the safety of our roads and Road Safety Week is a great opportunity to raise awareness and have important discussions about what we can each do to improve the safety of ourselves and others when on or around our roads.
In Whangarei, a Hero Walk around the Town Basin Hatea Loop was organised with people from many different organisations and schools attending. A sausage sizzle and Mr Whippy kept people fueled and there were plenty of giveaways.
St Francis Xavier School road down to the Town Basin from school via the Kamo Shared Path dressed in their superhero costumes. Batman led them down to the canopy bridge where they met up with the rest of the walk participants, including emergency response vehicles. The students grabbed a sausage and then road ahead of the walkers around the loop before heading back up the hill to school.
We ran a design your own helmet competition for students 5-12 years old with the winners getting to have their design transferred onto a helmet by an airbrush artist. Local Bike shops in Whangarei, Missing Link Cycles, MyRide Whangarei, and Torpedo 7 agreed to donate the helmets. Watch this space for the results later in the year. Nearly 400 entries have been received from all over Northland!
