Vodafone Warriors players are teaming up with stars from the Blues and Northern Stars to support Auckland Transport on a campaign to spread the message that seat belts save lives.
Kicking off tomorrow (Monday, February 18), the campaign features players from each of the three codes promoting the “seat belts save lives” message across different media including posters, bus backs, online video and radio.
Vodafone Warriors CEO Cameron George said the club is committed to doing what it can to prevent people from being seriously injured or dying on our roads.
We're committed to doing what we can to prevent people from being seriously injured or dying on our roads
Cameron George Vodafone Warriors CEO
“This is second time the Vodafone Warriors have partnered with Auckland Transport to deliver vital road safety messages to help save lives in our communities after previously supporting the ‘drive drink-free’ campaign,” he said.
“The fact that 171 people have been killed or seriously injured in the past five years due to not wearing a seat belt is staggering. Deaths and serious injuries have a massive negative impact on families and communities, and whatever we can do to help prevent this, we will,” said George.
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The Blues are pleased to join with the Warriors and the Northern Stars in supporting this important initiative in our region especially.
“Our roads and highway, especially in this region, are busy and need us all to be vigilant. To know that we have lost lives on the city roads because people are not wearing seat belts is as sad as it is avoidable,” said Blues CEO, Michael Redman.
Netball is also throwing its support behind the combined campaign through the Northern Stars.
“The wider community is very special to the Northern Stars and we are keen to be supporting such an important campaign to deliver a vital message,” said Northern Stars General Manager Dianne Lasenby.
Auckland Transport chief executive Shane Ellison said AT is pleased to be working alongside key sporting partners in Auckland to help the organisation deliver vital messages that aren’t getting through to a select few.
Putting on your seat belt should be a habit
Shane Ellison Auckland Transport chief executive
“Putting on your seat belt should be a habit. It is a simple and essential thing people can do to reduce the risk of being killed or seriously injured in a car crash, yet we know that a number of people continue to ignore this.
“We hope this new campaign will help change this behaviour and put an end to unnecessary road deaths in our region,” he said.
Facts and statistics on seat belt use in Auckland
In terms of location for death and serious injury (DSI) crashes:
The highest number are Auckland urban central (48), Far North district (47) and Auckland urban south (45).
The top two age groups are 15-29 years in Auckland urban central and Auckland urban south.
- Source: NZTA Crash Analysis System (CAS) data
Wearing a seat belt reduces the chance of death or serious injury in a crash by 40%.
In a crash, a force of 20 times your body weight is put on the seat belt. This is how hard you would hit the inside of your vehicle if unrestrained.
- The campaign targets all car drivers and passengers across the Auckland region, both males and females aged 15-66 years.
- Males ages 15-49 years are of particular focus. In Auckland 72% of deaths and serious injuries (DSI) from non-seat belt usage were males.
- Of these younger males are clearly associated and over represented with 33% being between 15-29 years of age. Europeans form the largest of this segment group by ethnicity at 32% and Maori are over represented at 23%. High association with other risky driving behavior such as speed and alcohol.
- Older males aged 30-49 years make up 23% of all DSI for non-seat belt usage. Of this group, 54% were European and 15% were Maori.
