Taking control of Hawke's Bay roads

The New Zealand Fire Service and ACC have launched a pilot scheme to help kerb the death and injury toll among 15-19 year olds on the region's roads.

The Take Control programme sees firefighters visiting local high schools to play Year 10 & 11 students a DVD, which features a dramatisation of a crash scene and interviews with the family and friends of a Hawke's Bay boy killed in 2004.

Firefighters then discuss the impact of road deaths on victims' family and friends as well as on the firefighters themselves.

Hastings/Napier deputy chief fire officer Collin Littlewood says the focus of the programme is on making good decision when behind the wheel, as opposed to traditional speed and alcohol messages.

"We're not lecturing to students. We present the facts, you make the choice. You take control."

In an innovative move to keep the programme message alive after the presentation has finished, participants who provide the Fire service and ACC with their mobile phone number receive text messages on Friday and Saturday nights reminding them to stay safe on the roads.

Hawke's Bay was chosen to pilot the scheme for two reasons.

The most obvious is because the area has a high rate of road death and injury, compared to the national average, among 15-19 year olds.

It was also because this is not the first time Hawke's Bay firefighters have taken it upon themselves to limit the current carnage on the roads, with a programme run in conjunction with Students Against Drunk Driving for a time in the mid-1990s.

The trail will run until March and, if successful in reducing deaths and injuries to secondary school pupils in the region, will be rolled out to other areas.