Council promotes road safety message

A Waikato Regional Council staff member engages with conference goers at Fleet Day

Road safety messaging was at the forefront of Waikato Regional Council participation at a conference which attracted more than 1500 fleet professionals from around the country.

Many participants at the annual EROAD Fleet Day event at Mystery Creek near Hamilton were fleet managers who came together for what is billed as Australasia’s biggest fleet management conference.  

Participants heard from a rich lineup of speakers including Kiwi rally champion Hayden Paddon, who underscored how performance at speed never outruns safety and former All Blacks Captain Sam Cane who focused on high-performance teamwork.

Waikato Regional Council Manager of Transport Policy and Programmes, Bryan Sherritt spoke at the conference about the ‘Safe System’ approach to road safety and fleet management and took part in a panel discussion.

Bryan Sherritt discusses road safety with Fleet Manager Angela Granwell during Fleet Day

Meanwhile, other council staff engaged with conference participants at a stand which highlighted road safety messaging including Ruben the Road Safety Bear-branded vehicle as a model of a modern fleet vehicle and a range of road safety public information materials. Staff also promoted public transport because this is a relatively safe mode of travel, with two Flex buses on the wider site.

“In the Waikato we’ve got the highest number of road deaths of any region in the country and that’s really quite an appalling statistic for us in the Waikato,” says Bryan.

“Nationally, around twenty-five percent of death and serious injury crashes on the network involve being on the road for work.

“In my presentation I gave a comparative look at how New Zealand’s performing compared to other developed countries around the world -- it’s amongst the worst in the developed world.

This big rig was among a host of vehicles, big and small, on display at Fleet Day

“These disturbing figures led on naturally to what fleet managers can do in providing a system response.”

The Safe System is about reducing death and serious injury on our roads by addressing systemic factors in combination such as improving the road network, tackling unsafe speeds and lifting the safety of the country’s vehicle fleet.

Fleet Day included over 70 exhibitors and activities such as a commercial vehicle test drive track and a street-smart driver safety zone which gave attendees experience with ABS breaking drills, hazard simulations, and tips from elite instructors on collision avoidance and emergency response.  

“Fleet Day is an important opportunity for us to be talking about road safety directly with fleet managers and really promoting what is good practice in the road safety space,” says Bryan.