SADD marks death of young Kiwi drivers

A crowd of more than 30 people gathered in Masterton's Library Square yesterday to release helium balloons in memory of youths who have died on New Zealand roads.

Students Against Dangerous Driving (SADD) representative from Makoura College, Hannah Smith, spoke at the event and stressed the importance of young people spreading the road safety message.

"In New Zealand over 700 teenagers have lost their lives on our road during the past decade," she said.

"Thousands more have been seriously injured.

"Today is the day in which we remember those who are unlucky enough to be a part of the statistic. And today is also the day that we promote positive behaviour and attitudes around driving."

According to SADD, a person aged 15 to 19 is more likely to die in a road crash than by any other cause.

Fellow SADD representative Mac Nelson said it was important to remember the lives that have been lost on the road and to address the issue of why people had crashed.

"It's important that we look at how we can get that number down," he said.

"And maybe this time in 10 years, we'll be looking back at 300, not 700 young lives lost."

Fire crew and police attended, with staff from Masterton District Council and members of the public.

Wairarapa Road Safety Council's Project Coordinator Holly McGeorge organised the event and said the message that SADD had been delivering to people aged 15-19 was "all really important".

She said there had been no young deaths on Wairarapa roads this year, which was an improvement on last year when there had been "three or four. The message has been slowly getting out there and there's a lot of education out there going into schools," she said. "The community is really working together to help share that message."