Kawerau drivers have taken part in a free Winter Pit Stop event to raise the awareness of checking vehicles to ensure safety for winter driving conditions.

The regional community event was run by the Eastern Bay Road Safety program and took place on Tuesday June 26 from 10am-12pm in the New World Kawerau car park.

Automotive students from Toi Ohomai were engaged to assist with the checks and were overseen by NZTA Technical Support Officer, Andrew Lister.

The TWIRL check is easy to do at home and involves: tyres, windscreen, wipers and mirrors, indicators, rust and lights.

Checking your vehicle regularly could reduce the risk of serious damage to you, your passengers and other road users.

Drivers who participated in the checks were rewarded with more than the knowledge around the safety of their vehicle.

During their wait drivers were offered free hot soup and given a road safety pack including hand sanitiser, a pack of tissues, car cleaning cloth, key ring and a TWIRL chocolate bar. There were also be fuel vouchers and first aid kits given away to some lucky drivers.

Of the 64 vehicles checked on the day, 30 per cent were found to have faults which is on par with the national average.

Tyre tread proved to be the most common safety issue of the vehicles checked. Faults with tyres included wear on the inner edge, an area often overlooked.

The minimum legal depth is 1.5mm but the more tread you have the better the grip and the safer you will be especially in wet weather.

Two vehicles were found to have extremely worn, nearly bald tyres. Bald tyres make it nearly impossible to brake safely in an emergency, affect your vehicle's handling, and there is also the danger of a tire blowout.

Other faults included defective lights, a cracked windscreen and a leaking exhaust. Results from the event however were an improvement on a similar event held in Kawerau in 2016 where 39 per cent of vehicles were found to be faulty.

Community Development Advisor, Lorreen Hartley, said events like these play an important role in educating drivers about the responsibility they have in keeping their vehicles roadworthy and safe.

'This event was also great because it initiates conversations between drivers and local road transport authorities and roading partners like Eastern Bay Road Safety.”