West Harbour students play it safe

By Rani Timoti

You'd be hard pressed to find a child who doesn't wear a seatbelt at West Harbour School.

All of the school's pupils have taken part in a road safety project coordinated by the Accident Compensation Corporation, Waitakere City Council and police.

The scheme initially involved a survey that found only 81 percent of kids used seatbelts while travelling as rear seat passengers,

But the school now reports a 100 per cent improvement after running various education programmes for its pupils.

It's had guest speakers, including racing car driver Andrew Anderson and community police constable Mike Clague, helping promote the message.

The school mascot, Clifford the dog, has also been enlisted to spread the word.

Henderson based Accident Compensation spokesman David Peirce says it's pleasing to see how the children have responded.

"Correctly wearing a safety belt reduces the chance of death or serious injury in a crash by 40 percent," he says. "The risk of serious or fatal injury through not wearing one is about equal whether you are in the back or front."

Western Leader