Fifty-eight new roadside billboards have been located in the Waikato and Waipā districts of New Zealand to highlight important safety messages to drivers.

The billboards focus on four key behaviours: Restraints (Seat Belts), Impairment, Distraction and Speeding.

“The Waipā District Council sees road safety in the district as a priority and billboards are a great way of getting messages in front of road users,” said Transportation Manager Bryan Hudson, Waipā District Council. “We endeavor to support Police in their role to keep our roads safe and the crash rate down. It’s a shared responsibility between Council, Police and road users themselves. We are all working towards the national Road Safety Strategy ‘Road to Zero’ that has set an initial target to reduce deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand’s roads, streets, cycleways and footpaths by 40 percent over the next 10 years.”

To date, there have been 204 crashes within the Waipā Council and Waikato Council districts in 2021 – 162 minor, 31 serious, and 11 fatal crashes.

“Billboard messaging is just one of many ways the Waikato District Council keeps safety messages in front of drivers,” said Megan Jolly, Waikato District Council Road Safety Co-ordinator. “Waikato District Council takes road safety seriously and our partnership with Police is a crucial part of our efforts to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads. Our contribution towards the national road safety strategy of Road to Zero is delivered through our focus on education and roading improvements. These billboards capture important messages for road users.”

The Waipā District Council has 25 billboards and Waikato District Council has 33 billboards on local roads. Billboards will be in place before the end of June and will remain for six months.