Haere haumaru

Travel Safe is an integrated approach to sustainable road safety outcomes that covers Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty.

Travel Safe works alongside community at "grassroots level" to lift the level of road safety and active transport across all ages from 0 - 80+ years.

Travel Safe have guiding principles:

• listening to communities
• keeping it simple and flexible
• developing community and school ownership at the beginning
• strengthening community action
• developing personal skills
• creating supportive environments
• supporting building healthy public policy.

Communities, schools, parents/caregivers/volunteers and students are the backbone of the partnership and make collective decisions using community developed templates. The programme fosters a culture of ‘valuing the volunteer’ and communities are encouraged to solve the problems themselves.

The Travel Safe programmes are underpinned by robust education, engineering, enforcement and encouragement and are reflective of community needs.

Effective road safety and active transport outcomes in communities influence lifelong choices and behaviours.

Travel Safe programmes

For more information about Travel Safe programmes please contact council on 07 577 7000 and talk with someone from the Travel Safe team.

Design your own helmet competition

Submit your design and be in to win your own one of a kind helmet airbrushed by a local artist. Download the template below.

Entries closed Friday 24 February.

Be Bright, Be Safe, Be Seen

This winter visibility programme reminds cyclists, walkers, runners and scooters to have lights, bright clothing and reflective gear if they are out and about in the early mornings and evenings, and at other times of low light and poor visibility.

Whether commuting to work, study or school, being active for fun or fitness, or popping down to the local shops, people should take extra care and keep safe by being fully visible on roads and paths. Bright, reflective and high-visibility clothing improves visibility.

All cyclists are encouraged to wear high-visibility clothing and ensure their front light, rear light and rear red reflector are all working correctly and are clean.

By law, all cyclists must have a red or yellow rear reflector that's visible from 200 metres when light shines on it. View the official New Zealand code for cycling for more information.

When cycling at night or in poor visibility, cycles must have:

• one or more steady or flashing rear-facing red lights that can be seen from 200m,
• one or two white or yellow headlights that can be seen at night from a distance of 200m (only one of these may flash), and
• pedal retro-reflectors on the forward and rearward facing surfaces of each pedal.

If the cycle does not have these, the cyclist must be wearing reflective material.

There are many cycle lights on the market - some are designed to help cyclists be seen by other road users during times of low light, and some lights are designed to help cyclists see where they are going, like a headlight. Check with your local bike shop about what lights are suitable for you.

Headlights should be attached to handlebars and pointing down so they don't dazzle other road users.

Be Bright, Be Safe, Be Seen is part of the regional Safer Journeys road safety programme. It's supported by Toi Te Ora Public Health, Sport BOP, local businesses, workplaces and schools.

For more information on this programme contact Travel Safe.

Courses