Zoe Carew, 7, wrote to the NZTA asking that they replace the 'Lineman' sign with something more 'correct and fair'. Photo / File
Zoe Carew, 7, wrote to the NZTA asking that they replace the 'Lineman' sign with something more 'correct and fair'. Photo / File
A young Wellington girl has championed gender equality by imploring the New Zealand Transport Agency to get rid of gender-specific road signs.
The girl's mother, Caitlin Carew, took to Twitter yesterday to proudly tell the story of her daughter's noble actions.
"So proud of my 7-year-old. She recently wrote to the NZTA CE asking that they replace the 'Lineman' sign with something more 'correct and fair' because 'women can be line-workers too'," she Tweeted.
"The CE agreed and now NZTA is developing a new Line Crew sign. High 5s all round!"
She also included images of the letters sent between her daughter, Zoe Carew, and NZTA chief executive Fergus Gammie.
Zoe's letter reads, "Kia Ora Mr Gammie, Last week my Dad was driving my brother and I to my grandparents place in Eastbourne. We saw some people working on the lines beside the road.
"We saw they had a warning sign that said 'LINEMEN'... We talked about this sign and I wondered why it said 'MEN' when women can be line-workers too," she wrote.
So proud of my 7yo. She recently wrote to the NZTA CE asking that they replace the 'Lineman' sign with something more "correct and fair" bc "women can be line-workers too". The CE agreed and now NZTA is developing a new Line Crew sign. High 5s all round! đ pic.twitter.com/lam5tciZ2u
"I don't really want to be a line-worker when I grow up because there are so many more exciting things I would like to do, but some girls might want to learn to be linewomen.
"Why does the sign say 'LINEMEN' when the people working on the lines may be men or women?
"I think this sign is wrong and unfair. Do you agree? Can you please change the sign to 'LINE-WORKERS' instead, or something else correct and fair like that."
An undisclosed amount of time later, Zoe received a letter back from Gammie thanking her for her suggestion.
Fergus Gammie suggested Line Crew would be more apt for new signs.
Gammie wrote, "I commend you for your suggestion and for taking action where you think something unfair should be fixed. Well done.
"The Transport Agency likes your idea, but your suggestion of 'LINE-WORKERS' would require the size of the signs to be increased," he wrote.
"However, it would be possible to change the signs to read 'LINE CREW' without changing the overall size of the signs. The Transport Agency can include this change in its sign specific approvals, which will be published soon.
"The new signs will replace the old ones when they need replacement due to wear and tear, this may take some time.
"The Transport Agency chose 'LINE CREW' rather than 'LINE WORK', because using the word 'CREW' indicates that people are doing the work and drivers need to be very careful when passing them."
Gammie also wrote that he would like to get a photo of Zoe with one of the new signs.
