Apps like Pokemon Go and Snapchat adding to driving risks for young New Zealand drivers

Taine Rouse is pulled from the wreck of a fake car crash. Photo/John Stone

The use of apps like Snapchat and Pokemon Go are adding to the risks young people are taking on the roads, says a teenage safe driving advocate.

Whangarei Girls' High School pupil Vaani Diwan leads the school's Students Against Dangerous Driving (SADD) committee and said she had noticed a new trend where peers are using Snapchat's speedometer feature to show off how fast they are going.

The feature let app users send a video message which tracks the speed they are moving at. Ms Diwan said she was aware of people who had done up to 80km/h in 50km/h zones while using the app.

Pokemon Go was also a problem, with some trying to catch Pokemon while driving.

"I've been speaking in assemblies and I've started saying, no Pokemon or Snapchat is worth your life," Ms Diwan said.

"People think it will take two seconds to send a text but it can harm your life."

Whangarei police senior sergeant Ian Rowe said while he was not specifically aware of the Snapchat filter, "there's an ever evolving world of social media and it's hard to monitor and do something about".

"It's illegal to be using your phone while driving and it's illegal to be speeding in the first place ... Get it wrong you're going to be really in the gun, and anything that's on social media can be used as evidence," Mr Rowe said.

Ms Diwan was currently in the throes of SADD awareness month and had organised activities at her school with friend Ellie Pryor including a mock car crash and "SADD race" which had pupils complete an obstacle course while sending a text, to highlight driver distraction.

More than 200 students turned up to the car crash, staged during lunchtime. Emergency services - with sirens blaring - arrived and helped cut pupil Taine Rouse from a wrecked car.

"I yelled 'help there's been a car crash!' and the police car was waiting outside," Ms Diwan said. "They started investigating the scene and I [mock] called the fire brigade. The sirens were what attracted a lot of the girls there."

Ms Diwan said she thought the event had an impact.

"I'm so sure it did because I had a few girls who came up after and said 'I will try and warn my friends as well'," she said "They were taking photos and videos and asking the police about what happens."

She said she would like to see more schools involved with SADD, particularly boys' schools.

"I'm not blaming guys for car crashes but they play a big part," she said.