New Zealand cycle safety received a significant financial boost this week through a $1.2million investment by the Road Safety Trust.
This monetary commitment is recognition of the quality of BikeNZ's and the Cycling Advocates' Network's (CAN) road safety programmes and will assist with the delivery of BikeNZ's Introduction to Road programme around New Zealand, over a three year period.
"This funding will enable us to deliver a whole lot of programmes and training to people who we otherwise would not have been able to assist. It will allow us to do more in terms of making the roads a safer place for New Zealand cyclists," said BikeNZ Chairman Richard Leggat.
"It is also a great validation of the good work both organisations have done for cycle safety, in partnership with NZTA, over the past two years."
As well as the NZTA, BikeNZ will be working closely with CAN in order to spread the reach of these safety programmes and messaging.
"CAN is delighted to be working with BikeNZ on another project like this in order to make New Zealand's roads safer and hopefully encourage more people to ride, more often," said CAN Chair Graeme Lindup.
"We aim to encourage interaction between cyclists and heavy road users, such as bus and truck drivers, to avoid incidents and share the road safely, in the best interests of everyone."
Cycle safety is an important issue in New Zealand with 6-10% of all road incidents in BikeNZ's four targeted regions involving cyclists. They are Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Hawke's Bay [NZTA, 2011].
"We aim to give people the skills and experience to have cycling as an option for transport, recreation and sport. The more skills education we can offer them, the safer our roads will be," said BikeNZ development manager Amy Taylor.
Contacts: Patrick Morgan, CAN, 027 563 4733
Taylor Mosen, BikeNZ, 027 204 2580