Nominations for the Canterbury Road Trauma Awards open on Monday, 29 July 2019.

In 2017, the Road Traffic Accident Trauma Charitable Trust introduced the annual Canterbury Road Trauma Awards, to honour industry professionals and members of the public who have worked to minimise road crash trauma, both directly at road crash sites and in an ongoing manner.

Outstanding individuals, teams or professional organisations making a special contribution to road safety, public education, road trauma prevention initiatives, and displaying a professional duty of care in Canterbury, are invited to put forward a nomination for the Awards to celebrate their contribution to the reduction of road trauma.

Canterbury Road Trauma Award Committee Chairman, Emeritus Professor Alan Nicholson of the University of Canterbury said nominations for the third annual Canterbury Road Trauma Awards will open on 29 July.

“I urge those in the post trauma care and road safety sectors to consider entering this years‘ awards, not just to share their stories of success but to inspire others to make an influential contribution to the reduction of road trauma in our community.”

“Many deserving individuals and organisations make an enormous contribution to road traffic trauma reduction in our region and it is important to recognise their efforts, whilst at the same time encouraging more Canterbury businesses to increase their efforts to reduce road traffic trauma”, says Prof.  Nicholson.

“We also encourage those that have aided or assisted at road crash sites that do not quality for the New Zealand Bravery Awards to put forward a nomination, as those that are first at the scene of a road crash site often make a significant difference to the outcome of patient post trauma care and deserve to be recognised”, says Prof. Nicholson.

“It is with great privilege the Trust is announce that in alignment with our ten year anniversary in 2020 we will nationalise the Awards. As we believe the reach and need for acknowledgement is far greater than those directly within the Canterbury community”, says, Sarah Dean, Founder.

“We will work with the sector to ensure the National Awards adequately meet the needs of the industry. We intend to include a consultation process to ensure we also target key stakeholder and Government priority areas”. says Sarah Dean.

This year, there are three Award categories, Canterbury Road Trauma Prevention Award, Canterbury Road Trauma Award for Community Service and Canterbury Road Trauma Award for Public Service.  

For further information on how to enter the third annual Canterbury Road Trauma Awards, please visit: https://roadtrafficaccidenttrust.org.nz/ Nominations for this year‘s Canterbury Road Trauma Awards close on 30 September 2019 and the winners will receive their awards at the Road Traffic Accident Trauma Charitable Trust‘s Road Accident Remembrance Day on Saturday, 9 November 2019 at 2.00pm, in North Hagley Park, Christchurch. The Awards will be co-presented by industry representatives, including Martin Small, President of the Australasian College of Road Safety, from Australia.

The Canterbury Road Trauma Awards Committee members who decide the award recipients are Emeritus Professor Alan Nicholson (Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury);Jenny Dickinson (Lead Advisor Strategic Interventions, Safety and Environment, New Zealand Transport Agency). Councillor Aaron Keown (Christchurch City Council and Canterbury District Health Board); Prof. Gary Hooper (Head of the Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Medicine Department, University of Otago Christchurch); Dr Glen Koorey (Principal, Senior Traffic Engineer and Transport Planner, ViaStrada); Steve Wakefield (Steve Wakefield Services Limited and Canterbury District Health Board) and Sarah Dean (Road Traffic Accident Trauma Charitable Trust).