ASHS lock in their pledge to drive safelyOn 7th June, the SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara (Students Against Dangerous Driving) students from Albany Senior High School, led by National Leader Akshara Nair and Regional Leader Aimee Bonne, ran an event to promote safe driving encouraging their peers and teachers to be safer on our roads and prevent people being killed or seriously injured on our roads. Students and teachers lined up to make their pledge to be safe drivers and then placed a padlock, which was donated by the Albany Bunnings store, on the fence that lines the main hallway, where students pass by every day as a reminder to drive safely. Unfortunately, there is a culture of unsafe driving in NZ. It is seen by some as cool to speed, showing off in front of their mates, breaching driver's licence conditions to socialise, and interacting with their peers on social media while driving, these are just some of the issues facing young drivers. Akshara says "We definitely need to change driving behaviours, particularly in young people, as we are the voice for change. So many people are seriously injured on the road and though it may seem ‘cool’ to speed on the roads, suddenly it becomes serious when someone is harmed. The best way for us to change this behaviour is through education and getting people to take initiative. Our SADD/Kaitiaki O Ara group runs many events throughout the year to promote these. The lock event is just one of them that influences people to take responsibility for their actions on the road, and hopefully, allow for the roads to be a much safer place. As students, we can influence our peers, and others, to do the right thing which is why SADD/Kaitiaki O Ara provides such an amazing stepping stone for youth voices to be heard and enforce change in society. Together, with students all around the country, we are changing the roads to become safer for everyone. If even one life is saved due to safer driving conditions on the road, it will make all the difference". Aimee adds "Road safety is such an important topic that affects everyone, not just drivers. I personally believe youth have such an important role to play towards road safety as we have a fresh perspective on the topic. Additionally, we will be driving for many years in the future and want to learn safe driving habits from the get-go. I believe the best way to change behaviours toward safer driving is to make it relatable, feel achievable and give clear solutions. An effective way is by the message coming from the youth. Pushing youth voice is also so valuable (and what SADD/Kaitiaki O Ara do so well) is so important and valuable as youth find it a lot more inclusive and relatable to learn about the topic from fellow peers instead of adults they can’t relate to as much. Additionally coming from peers makes safe driving seem more achievable with thinking like, ‘If they can, I can too’. Also breaking it down is so important. Making our roads safer is a huge topic which can be intimidating potentially. Breaking it down into simple steps and actions people can take makes it clearer and easier to do though and therefore making it more likely people will take action to be safer". "From our lock event, we aimed to open up a conversation about being safe drivers in an engaging way that lots of people would want to participate in. With COVID-19 we have seen it being hard in many areas of life to get people involved and commit to things or have things go ahead because of restrictions. We too have felt the effects. Because of this, we put in a lot of effort to get people involved in the event. That’s why it was rewarding to get a great turnout for this event with all of our locks used!"
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