Are you involved in road safety initiatives in your local area?
 
We have funding available for community groups in the Horizons Region to deliver road safety education activities.
 

Why do we do this?

Improving the safety on our roads is of critical importance for this region. Road crashes cause avoidable deaths and serious injuries in our Region with the estimated social costs of these crashes running into the hundreds of millions per year. The impacts on the victims, whānau, friends, communities and workplaces are immeasurable.
 
Some of the issues that can impact on the severity of crash outcomes are:

• Intersection driver behaviour.
• Speed and driving impaired.
• Fatigued or distracted.
• Young drivers and/or unlicensed drivers.
• Vulnerable road users, pedestrians and cyclists.
• Lack of seat belts and child restraints.

 
In addition to employing road safety coordinators to undertake road safety education, we recognise that community groups can make a difference in road safety due to their knowledge of, and connections to their communities.
 
For example, driver-licensing programmes are funded where community organisations help people with literacy or language problems to gain their driver’s licence.
 

What type of activities may be funded?

The fund is aimed at addressing road safety issues in our local community. Examples of programmes to be funded include driver education and licensing, child restraint checking clinics and cyclist education.
 
Your proposed activity must be consistent with the Road to Zero: New Zealand’s Road Safety Strategy 2020-2030,
https://www.transport.govt.nz/multi-modal/keystrategiesandplans/road-safety-strategy/

Areas of focus in Road to Zero are:

• Speed management
• Vehicle safety
• Work-related road safety
• Road user choices
• System management 

Funding cannot be used for road engineering, including signage and markings, acquiring vehicles, or acquiring large capital items such as computers or office furniture.
 
This funding is contestable and applications will be evaluated to determine how well they will address the region’s identified road safety issues.
 

Further information

For further information on road safety issues, please visit New Zealand Transport Agency’s (NZTA) website https://www.nzta.govt.nz/safety/
 

Applying for the community fund

The process

All applications must be on the official application form (available from your local road safety coordinator) but additional information may be attached.
Our road safety coordinators are happy to help you prepare your application. Please contact the road safety coordinator in your area (see below) to discuss the details of your project before proceeding with your application.

Your contribution

You will need to contribute 40 per cent of the cost of your project from your community organisation or from other funding.
 
Please note: ‘In kind’ donations cannot be accepted as part of your organisation’s contribution. An ‘in kind’ contribution is a non-cash cost which is given a cash value. An example of this is a school loaning classroom space to run a programme and attributing a value to this.

Key dates

Applications close on Friday 29 March 2024 at 5pm.
 
Please send completed applications to Transport Manager, Horizons Regional Council, Private Bag 11025, Manawatū Mail Centre, Palmerston North 4442.
 
Final confirmation of funding from the New Zealand Transport Agency will be after 1 June 2024.