Win-a-car competition aims to improve road safety

11.45am

Win-a-car competition aims to improve road safety

Drivers will get the chance to go into a draw to win a car when getting a licence, registering their vehicle or getting a warrant of fitness under a new education campaign.

They will be able to enter the draw by filling out a questionnaire testing their knowledge of the road code and risks to road safety.

Anyone getting nine or 10 correct answers can enter the draw for a Toyota Avensis wagon which has been awarded the highest score under the European NCAP crash-testing regime.

Those who get fewer than nine out of 10 answers right can go into a draw to win petrol vouchers, wheel alignments, tyres, car wash vouchers and other prizes.

The competition includes questions on the give way rules, risks of fatal injuries, the speed at which you can travel past a school bus, tread depth on tyres, the use of child restraints, and drink driving.

Transport Minister Paul Swain said the "Up To Scratch" education campaign offered incentives for drivers to take part voluntarily in simple tests to refresh their driving knowledge.

"Many of us don't give the road code a second thought once we gain our licence, and it is possible for someone who gains their full licence at the age of 17 to not refresh their driving knowledge in any way until they turn 80."

The government's goal was to have no more than 300 deaths and 4500 hospitalisations a year by 2010.

From March 2004 all drivers will be given the scratch tests with vehicle licensing reminders, driver licence renewals and warrant of fitness inspections.

National Road Safety Committee chairman David Wright said nearly 10 million contacts were made with New Zealanders every year related to warrants of fitness, vehicle licensing and driver licensing "and until now none of these contacts has been used to promote knowledge of the road rules or road safety".

"If you want to win a new car, you'll have to earn it by brushing up on the road rules," Mr Wright said.

Most people would have between four and six opportunities to complete the scratch tests and enter prize draws every year.

How difficult is the questionnaire? This reporter got 10 out of 10 while her colleague scored eight out of 10.

The Government has already announced an extra $47 million over two years for engineering works at accident black spots on roads.

Next month, it will announce enforcement measures which Mr Swain has previously said would target speeding and recidivist drink driving.

Liz Taylor-Read, from the Land Transport Safety Authority (LTSA), said negotiations were still under way with Toyota New Zealand, which was sponsoring the major prizes but more than one car would be given away each year.

The programme, which she described as "serious fun", would run permanently. Toyota New Zealand was committed for the long term, she said.

Mr Swain said different groups, such as motorcyclists, would be targeted with different questionnaires.

The questions would be changed from time to time.

Ms Taylor-Read said evaluations of the programme would be done to see if drivers were learning more and driver behaviour was changing, although the LTSA would be cautious about attributing change to one thing.

- NZPA

Herald Feature: Road safety