Students from seven of the eight Western Bay secondary schools have gathered in Red Square, Thursday lunchtime, with 26 white crosses to symbolise the number of people killed by drink driving in the region in the last five years.
There is a particular emphasis on young people and drink driving currently because they are disproportionately represented in the fatality statistics.

Students from seven different secondary schools gather in Red Square to mark the dangers of drink driving.

Between 2004 and 2008 alcohol-affected drivers contributed to almost one third of all fatal and serious injury crashes on WBOP and Tauranga roads; resulting in 26 deaths, 121 serious injuries and 296 minor injuries.
'What's more concerning is that despite making up only 16 per cent of the total population, 15-24 year olds make up nearly half of the drink drivers in the WBOP,” says SADD Regional Coordinator/Upper North Island Dominique Cornille.
'I am alarmed by the WBOP drink drive statistics for young people. For me as a teenager it is the other people in my age group that I am most concerned about. We have the whole rest of our lives ahead of us, yet the lethal combination of alcohol and driving is causing so much unnecessary damage on our roads,” says Tauranga Girls' College SADD representative Anna MacDiarmid.
The group of students will be delivering their message three more times this month in the region.
Saturday, December 12 – Outside WBOPDC Office/Library, Katikati
Thursday, December 17 – Outside Post Office, Te Puke
Saturday, December 19 – Mount Drury, Mount Maunganui