Whangarei students Deja Tuhoro and Bernadine Nash say a road safety programme has highlighted hazards they were not aware of before.
The Whangarei Girls' High School students are two of more than 650 Year 12 students from Whangarei schools who have been attending the road safety education programme RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness) at Toll Stadium.
Miss Tuhoro is on her learner licence - which means she must drive with a front passenger seat supervisor who has held their full licence for two years. Miss Nash is working on getting her learner licence.
"I think it's important knowing there is danger out there. You grow up and your parents are driving and you think 'this is good, I'm fine at driving' and then you suddenly get there and you realise there's a lot of dangers and risks," Miss Nash said.
"I think it's also good to bring awareness to different things. Because when you're a driver you don't think of all these hazards. Like I never had thought about the fact that I could be a distracting passenger," said Ms Tuhoro.