Police and Students Against Dangerous Driving (SADD) have stepped up their relationship to help prevent harm on New Zealand roads.
After many years of working together, they have signed a Letter of Agreement (LoA) to strengthen the relationship.
The agreement clarifies the partnership and provides increased opportunities to build bridges between Police and young Kiwis to make our roads safer for younger road users.
Assistant Commissioner Sandra Venables says SADD and Police share a passion to keep people safe.
“Our people come to work every day to keep people safe, and for our road policing staff that focus is on driver and rider behaviour,” she says.
“Our partners at SADD also share that focus through influencing their peers and communities through engagement.
“This puts our relationship on a more formal footing. Working together to amplify our voices and road safety messages can only be a good thing for the safety of people in our communities."
The LoA describes the collaboration between Police and SADD, covering both organisations’ attendance at road safety events and activities in the community and at schools, and their contributions to and sharing of road safety messages.
SADD National Manager Donna Govorko says the LoA is a strengthening of the partnership with Police. “It helps clarify how we can work together towards achieving shared road safety and youth empowerment goals,” she says.
SADD is a student-led, peer-to-peer programme that gives young people a voice to effect and inspire safe behaviour on the road, providing a platform for them to spread and amplify safety messages to their communities.
It is driven by the fact that young drivers are more at risk of road harm because they are still developing, physically and mentally, and it takes time and practice to develop safe driving skills.