A campaign focussing on driver behaviour at intersections gets underway this week – with the message ‘When it’s time to turn, turn your eyes on.’
Hamilton City Council has launched the campaign to improve road safety for people in the city, with over half of all crashes in Hamilton over the last five years having taken place at intersections.
The Council’s Road Safety Coordinator Mihi Bennett-Smith says drivers often approach intersections too casually.
“We want people to not only look as they come up to intersections, but to consciously see others on the road.
“Our message is simple – we all need to see each other when we’re on the roads, and also on our streets. This is never more important than when it’s time to turn.”
Over the last five years, 53% of crashes in Hamilton have occurred at intersections, with the main causes connected to people not properly looking by failing to give way or stop (24%), or because of poor observation (25%).
Mihi says the campaign aims to reinforce a message that can be recalled, in the moment, to do one simple thing to affect people’s behaviour behind the wheel.
“To help with this we’ve included a catchy radio ad that hopefully will get stuck in people’s heads while they’re on the road.”
“I also want to give a shout-out to the 89 Hamiltonians who had their photos taken and feature in the campaign photo montage for their help in promoting the road safety message.”
- Listen to the radio ad
Audio Player - View the campaign image here
- Find out more at www.hamilton.govt.nz/saferroadshamilton