Reducing alcohol, drug and speed related crashes involving young people are the drivers behind a four day interactive expo being held at the Thames Racecourse this week.

Thames School community officer Senior Constable MaryAnn Kerr says the event is being run alongside the New Zealand Students Against Drink Driving week.

Preventing young people from dying on New Zealand roads was the focus of the expo.

The Drink, Drive, Die Expo was aimed at Year 11 students because of the large number of young people dying on our roads and involved St John Ambulance, Fire Service, an Auckland based rescue helicopter, Victim Support, ACC, towing operators, funeral directors and Police staff, all demonstrating their roles to Year 11 students from around the Eastern Waikato.

'Drink driving is a serious issue here in the Eastern Waikato with 38 teens dying on our roads in the last 10 years, 13 deaths in crashes were alcohol and/ or drugs were a factor,” says Mary.

'Nationally 985 teenagers were killed or injured in 194 over the same period in crashes involving alcohol and/or drugs.”

Mary says last year 45 people died in 41 crashes on Waikato roads and of those, 12 aged 20-years-old or under lost their lives.

The expo is a joint project with Thames, Hauraki and Matamata-Piako District Councils Road Safety Co-ordinator.

'Drivers aged 20-years or under were involved in seven crashes that cost 16 lives in the Waikato last year.

'Two of these fatal crashes involved alcohol, with one also involving drugs. These crashes claimed five lives while three of the seven involved speeds too high for the road or weather conditions.”

She says the expo targets Year 11 students is that they are the age group entering the driving phase of their lives and we need to change attitudes towards speeding, drugs and drinking and driving.