When the passion for road safety runs in the family

Mia had the honour to interview Derryn and her mum Tania about their SADD/ Kaitiaki o Ara experiences. It is great to see how much our organisation has changed over the years and how much it has impacted other people. Check out the full written interview below, or watch the video of the interview at the bottom.

Mia: “Welcome Derryn and Tania, thank you so much and taking your time doing this interview with me. I am really excited, because in your family road safety seems to be a very important topic. We would love to know more about this and how it all came together. So, tell me a bit about yourself.” 

Tania: “I am a Mum of two, I have got two almost adult children. One turning 21 this year and Derry is obviously..I won’t tell her how old she is. Recently, I celebrated 25 years of marriage and I think this is quite successful. A little bit about my high school history; I went to Hawera High in the late 80s. My father was the AA man and we travelled around the North Island with his group. We started at Wanganui, went to Taihape, Te Awa and eventually we finished up here in New Plymouth.”

Derryn: “I am still at school and I also do a lot of tennis, playing by myself, and doing coaching. I spend most of my afternoons at the tennis club.”

Mia: “Thank you that was beautiful. So, what made you join SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara?”

Tania: “I can’t actually quite remember what it was. There may have been a promotion at school and we decided that it might be quite nice for us as a group to get involved . We didn’t have any event with family members or friends that would have made us think of it. It was just an idea that I went home with, and told my family that there is this new organisation that I would like to get involved with. Both of my parents enjoyed driving cars and knew about road safety, they said they would be able to help me, and it just went from there.”

Derryn: “I remember when I first started high school it was quite a big day and I remember seeing all the events SADD students were putting on and I found that pretty cool. All of the sudden it died out and I was wondering what’s happening. Then I got asked if I wanted to join the group and I gave it a go. I went to the conference down in Wellington, loved every minute of it, and made new friends. After that I applied for the National Leadership role, and I became successful.”

Mia: “Awesome, thank you for sharing. Was there anything specific about your parents actions that inspired you regarding road safety?”

Tania: “I have grown up around cars. My Dad was a mechanic in the late 70s and I remember the AA did a promotion about wearing a seatbelt, it wasn’t mandatory to wear a seatbelt . There were a lot of crashes where people weren't wearing seatbelts. There was even a promotion where baby’s should be put into car seats and the AA were giving away free car seats to lucky people for their babies. There are a lot of things that were inspiring, and my dad was also part of the local fire brigade. We were aware that they are first responders and that they went out to crashes as well. We have always been around these sorts of things, so we have been aware that cars are amazing things but they can also cause a lot of heartbreak and destruction.”

Mia: “What a history, we can’t even imagine that anymore, no seatbelts, or car seats for babies! I am happy we have more safety around that now. What kind of activities or messaging did you do back then when you were active in SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara?”

Tania: “It was really about drunk driving. It was called Students Against Drink Driving back then, we had posters and a lot of other promotional stuff. But our main thing we did was a static display in the mall in Harewa. With the help of Dad and his friends we were able to get a car that happened to be in a drunk driving crash. My friend and I went to have a look at it and that was quite a sobering experience. I will never forget it. We were able to use that vehicle as a static display for people as a shock tactic. I don't think you would get away with it now, because we didn't actually have any thought about the fact the members of the family who were involved in the crash could walk past that vehicle and how they feel. Things have changed now, haven't they?”

Mia: “Yes, they have. The shock tactics used to be the old way, but we moved away from that and we rather educate and  encourage positive behaviour change. But this is a great example to see how it has changed. Have you always encouraged your children to think about road safety?” 

Tania: “Absolutely, mainly about driving. When I started driving I got taught by AA Driving School, I was told to learn the right way and not pick up bad habits from someone else. We both put our children into driving schools, where they learnt the right way to begin with.”

Derryn: “Mum didn’t let me drive until I got lessons from a driving school. I was not allowed to drive at all and this was all through lockdown. So I didn’t get to drive for about 2 months, because the driving schools weren’t open.”

Mia: “That is very good determination. But this is the best way to do it otherwise you will pick up all the bad habits. So this is very powerful - great messaging. Is road safety a topic that is often spoken about at home?”

Tania: ”Yes and no. My husband is quite known in the family for yelling at other road users when he is driving. I mean we all seem to know what’s right when we are driving.I don’t think it’s really something we do talk about, but our awareness is there.”

Mia: “Are you proud of Derryn’s involvement with SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara, and all her contributions to road safety?”

Tania: ”When she came home and she said I put my name down for SADD, I was like ‘I can’t believe it, this is so cool. I was beaming. So I ran to the photo album to get my picture out that we had in the newspaper when I was in SADD. I said to Derryn ‘Look at this’. She had no idea that I used to be involved with SADD, it was quite a cool moment. She is doing the same thing without any prompting from me. When she is talking to me about SADD it reminds me of my parents, who are no longer with us, and how proud they would be of her. And if they were here they would have been so supportive.”

Mia: ”That’s such a beautiful story. If you could go back in time would you do anything differently?”

Tania: ”If I had the opportunity to be involved at Derryn’s age now, there are so many more risks now that have been identified . There are so many different avenues that you could go through to highlight dangers of driving. It would just be so much fun. You have our cell phone dangers, fatigue, speed and all those sorts of things. 

Mia: ”Great, thank you. What would be your biggest advice that you would give to young people today in relation to road safety?”

Tania: :I would say respect the vehicle and understand that you are not invincible. Watch your speed.”

Mia: “That’s powerful, because most young people think they are invincible. Thank you so much for sharing your story.”

Thank you for being such an inspiration to all of us and contributing to safer roads in Aotearoa!