DRIVER DISTRACTION with Robyn Blackburn MARLBOROUGH ROAD SAFETY Driver distraction is a serious road safety issue tor drivers of all ages, and an increasing cause behind serious and fatal crashes in New Zealand. Our young drivers, however, seem to be bucking the trend, says Mariborough coeb u or Rooy un, with the rate of But that's no reason to be complacent. Robyn encourages young drivers and gut od Nodee detesontinue nd the wheel ng Why has driver distraction been targeted as a serious road satety issue? According to Police crash data, in 2019 driver distraction was a known contributing factor in 10 fatal crashes, 133 serious injury crashes and 918 minor injury crashes in New Zealand. Driver distraction is often the initial factor in the chain of events that lead to a crash. While it's unrealistic to expect that drivers won't be distracted from time to time, drivers need to ensure their jouneys are safe by reducing the risk of driver distraction wherever they can. How do young drvers fit in? Inexperience coupled with youthful exuberance means our young drivers are more likely to be involved in a crash, However, over the past three years we've been delighted to see a reduction in the number of death and serious injury crashes caused by young and novice drivers in Marborough. In 2017. drivers aged between 17-24 years were found to be at faut in more than a quarter of all death and serious injury crashes in Mariborough. By 2019. that number had reduced to less than 20%, which is hugely positive and of course we hope to see this downward trend continue What's behind the reduction? It's difficult to say definitively, but we'd ike to think young people are becoming more aware of the need to really consider their safety on the road, due to an Increase in the amount of support and road safety programmes available to them. One example is the Rotary Young Drivers Awareness programme (RYDA) which supports teachers to provide their students with the tools and understanding they need to see themselves as active, responsible drivers and passengers. The full day of road safety, and is led by a team of trained facilitators including Police, driving instructors and other specialists. Another exampie is our youth mentoring programme for aspiring young drivers who do not have the adult support at home to work their way through leaming to drive and w RYDA workshop for all Year 12's front-loads studerits' understanding getting theire r driver license. This programme supported by Police has been key in ensuring the right road safety messages and skils are being imparted to the young people in our community who need it the most. Between programmes like these and targeted road safety messaging, we like to think young people understand and take seriously their responsibiliny to keep themselves and other road users safe. How can young drivers avoid distraction while driving? Stick to the restrictions of your license - no driving your mates unsupernvised. Switch your phone to do not disturb, or fight mode when driving. Set your GPS before you start your joumey. Queue your music up before you set out so you can enjoy your journey better. * Take more breaks and pull the car over to eat and drink. GIVEAWAY Marlborough Roads have 50 water bottles to giveaway to readers of this column Call into THE MARLBOROUGH EXPRESS front office to collect yours. DRIVER DISTRACTION with Robyn Blackburn MARLBOROUGH ROAD SAFETY Driver distraction is a serious road safety issue tor drivers of all ages, and an increasing cause behind serious and fatal crashes in New Zealand. Our young drivers, however, seem to be bucking the trend, says Mariborough coeb u or Rooy un, with the rate of But that's no reason to be complacent. Robyn encourages young drivers and gut od Nodee detesontinue nd the wheel ng Why has driver distraction been targeted as a serious road satety issue? According to Police crash data, in 2019 driver distraction was a known contributing factor in 10 fatal crashes, 133 serious injury crashes and 918 minor injury crashes in New Zealand. Driver distraction is often the initial factor in the chain of events that lead to a crash. While it's unrealistic to expect that drivers won't be distracted from time to time, drivers need to ensure their jouneys are safe by reducing the risk of driver distraction wherever they can. How do young drvers fit in? Inexperience coupled with youthful exuberance means our young drivers are more likely to be involved in a crash, However, over the past three years we've been delighted to see a reduction in the number of death and serious injury crashes caused by young and novice drivers in Marborough. In 2017. drivers aged between 17-24 years were found to be at faut in more than a quarter of all death and serious injury crashes in Mariborough. By 2019. that number had reduced to less than 20%, which is hugely positive and of course we hope to see this downward trend continue What's behind the reduction? It's difficult to say definitively, but we'd ike to think young people are becoming more aware of the need to really consider their safety on the road, due to an Increase in the amount of support and road safety programmes available to them. One example is the Rotary Young Drivers Awareness programme (RYDA) which supports teachers to provide their students with the tools and understanding they need to see themselves as active, responsible drivers and passengers. The full day of road safety, and is led by a team of trained facilitators including Police, driving instructors and other specialists. Another exampie is our youth mentoring programme for aspiring young drivers who do not have the adult support at home to work their way through leaming to drive and w RYDA workshop for all Year 12's front-loads studerits' understanding getting theire r driver license. This programme supported by Police has been key in ensuring the right road safety messages and skils are being imparted to the young people in our community who need it the most. Between programmes like these and targeted road safety messaging, we like to think young people understand and take seriously their responsibiliny to keep themselves and other road users safe. How can young drivers avoid distraction while driving? Stick to the restrictions of your license - no driving your mates unsupernvised. Switch your phone to do not disturb, or fight mode when driving. Set your GPS before you start your joumey. Queue your music up before you set out so you can enjoy your journey better. * Take more breaks and pull the car over to eat and drink. GIVEAWAY Marlborough Roads have 50 water bottles to giveaway to readers of this column Call into THE MARLBOROUGH EXPRESS front office to collect yours.