Wooden crosses a driver's warning

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 680, 1 April 1997, Page 10

Wooden crosses a driver's warning

By

Pat

McOnie,

Ruapehu 'Safer Community' Co-ordinator Kei te mihi atu kia a koutou katoa. White crosses. They represent death. They represent a warning to other motorists to drive carefully and soberly. People erect a white wooden cross at the site where their relative or friend died, hoping, perhaps vainly judging by the reaction of some motorists, that others will remember how a seemingly normal drive on our roads can turn to tragedy. Recent crashes on our roads are a devastating reminder of how dangerous roads can be when combined with a lethal mix of inexperience, cars, speed and in many cases, alcohol. People know the risks, but think it will never happen to them - unfortunately all too often it does. Ask any teenager about the perils of drink-driving and

they'll quickly agree that it's a dangerous mix. Yet faced with unrelenting peer pressure when out with friends, what was previously the obvious choice, becomes one of the hardest in the world - with peer pressure usually winning out. They seem to have no concept of their own mortality "its like being 10 feet tall and bullet-proof." There is a link between drink-driving and alcohol advertising in particular with young people who haven't established drinking patterns. We campaign to halt carnage on our roads and simultaneously advertise alcohol on television. Slogans such as "The measure of a man's thirst", the thumping call to manhood and camaraderie of the Saatchi and Saatchi advertisement for Lion Red "Red-blooded, blood-brothers," makes the process seem as normal as Weetbix.