Expo drives safety message home

TEXT TEST: Under the gaze of Senior Constable Phillip Wong, Brodie Murrell from St John's College in Hastings found out how dangerous texting while driving could be. PHOTO/PAUL TAYLOR HBT142284-10

For Senior Constable Ian Cheyne, having a couple of young high school students approach and tell him their older siblings said they "must go and see" the annual Hawke's Bay Youth Alcohol Expo was pretty special.

"Their older brothers and sisters had seen it two or three years ago and told them they had to see it for themselves. That was so good to hear."

More than 2500 Hawke's Bay secondary school students, all nearing the age where a driving licence is in sight, will have visited the expo being staged at the Pettigrew Green Arena by the time it wraps up this afternoon.

Along with Roadsafe Hawke's Bay regional manager Linda Anderson, Mr Cheyne has been a driving force behind the "stay safe out there" themed expos and both have been pleased with the reactions and responses from the young people who have attended over the past week.

Ms Anderson said the hard-hitting video presentations, which starkly presented the impacts serious crashes had on those involved and their families, really hit home.

"They take it all in. It goes down so strongly with the kids," she said.

Mr Cheyne said the effect it had on some young people, who later got close to wrecked vehicles and portrayals of the physical and emotional results of crashes too often caused by speed and alcohol, was sometimes clear to see.

"We see some showing some real emotion," he said, adding that talking to the youngsters revealed they had been through the "ripple effect" of a crash involving someone they knew.

"They realise very well so many people are affected."

That was the message he hoped the expo would get through to tomorrow's young drivers on the roads.

This year's expo featured a new section focused on the ripple effect, detailing the financial and human costs of serious crashes.

Hawke's Bay Hospital Emergency Department nurses had voluntarily given up their time to man a stand as part of the section, which greeted the young visitors with the hard reality of where an otherwise avoidable driving mistake could end up putting them - it was a coffin and flowers.

"They [student groups] are only in here for two hours but in that time we can only hope we can get the message through about what can go wrong," Mr Cheyne said.

Fifteen-year-old Amariah Luki from St John's College, who said he wanted to get his licence when he turned 16, was impressed.

He said: "It's really good because it makes you think. It has taught me a lot of things."

The expo is open again today from 11am to 1pm.