Plan your ride home before you head out

We have a focus on reducing the harm caused by alcohol. Where people have safer patterns of drinking behaviour, environments support low-risk drinking, harmful drinking is not visible to our children and young people and community wellbeing and safety is enhanced.

This summer we teamed up with Hutt City Council, Upper Hutt City Council and NZ Police to drive home an important message – plan your ride home before you head out.

Too many people across the Hutt Valley are choosing to drink and drive.  Alcohol slows reaction times and impairs our judgement which while driving can result in life-changing and tragic events.

In the Hutt Valley since 2015, there have been 823 crashes where alcohol was a contributing factor. In these crashes 8 people were killed and 415 people were injured.

Summer is the time of year when so many of us head out and enjoy the company of whānau and friends. We’re encouraging everyone to not just plan the outing but to ‘plan your ride home before you head out.’

Hutt City Council, Upper Hutt City Council and Healthy Families Hutt Valley alongside NZ Police have collaborated on a local campaign this summer to make sure we plan to get home safely after socialising.

The campaign aims to reduce the impact alcohol has on our roads and includes messaging in bars, restaurants and clubs across the Hutt Valley as well as promotion on the back of local buses and through radio advertising on local stations.

“We’re wanting people to plan ahead, no matter how short the journey or the scale of the drinking – make a plan to get home safely” says Hutt City Council’s Road Safety Coordinator Aileen Campbell.

“The message is simple – if you’re drinking, don’t drive. We encourage you to organise a sober driver, plan a rideshare, take your walking shoes and generally have a plan to get home safely. There is always an alternative to drink driving.”