The event is a joint safety initiative between Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Roadsafe Hawke’s Bay, Hato Hone St Johns, Fire and Emergency NZ, and NZ Police. Over 2,000 Year 11-12 students from around the region will attend through their schools.
For one week a year up to 2500 students aged 15 and 16 come to this stadium for those few hours. There’s a lot to see. Stands and booths with inventive tasks and narratives to prompt the teens to think. It seems to work. Only a few seem blithely nonplussed.
Glenn Taylor/Stuff
Seth Adams, who suffered serious brain injuries in a crash in 2012, speaking to a group of students attending Hawke s Bay s annual Youth Road Safety Expo. The cops, paramedics and firefighters share a laugh, indulge in a bit of teasing, but there s a palpable earnestness in their disposition. You get the sense they want desperately to ensure these teens aren’t among those they have to lift from a mangled car.