Road Safety Week 2025: Whangārei firefighter's plea to motorists
Wearing a seatbelt was another tool in the safety box that sometimes went unused, he said.
'It's like you've got the smoke alarm, but then you take the battery out of it.'
'It's a piece of safety equipment, that's what it's designed to do.'
Police data showed last year in Northland six people died and 23 were seriously injured when not wearing a seatbelt.
Smith said he had yet to see someone survive being ejected from a vehicle due to not wearing a seatbelt.
Speed was another cause of fatalities, he said.
Data shows that in 11 of last year's 27 fatalities, inappropriate speed was found to have contributed to the crash.
Six people died and 34 were also seriously injured in crashes where alcohol impairment above the limit contributed to the crash.
'There's definitely parties that are caught in the crossfire because of these things that are happening, [and] they're doing nothing wrong,' Smith said.
He said motorists were occasionally just in the 'wrong place at the wrong time'.
'You can be doing everything right and all of a sudden something happens in front of you,' he said.
'You can't help but think to yourself, it could be you, a friend or a family member.'
Smith said that when driving past previous accident sites, they stuck in his mind.
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'It's not only of course the people that are involved in the incident or accident that are affected, it's far-reaching.'
Those impacted include people who are the first on scene at crash sites, he said.
And while it was his job as a fulltime firefighter to attend crashes, they left a lasting impact.
'Over time, the things that we see and experience, they can't help but shape you.'
'It affects all the emergency services. No matter how conditioned we are, it does have an impact.'
A key message he wanted motorists to take away this Road Safety Week was to be aware of their surroundings.
'It's amazing how many people don't have awareness of us behind them, even with sirens, flashing lights and everything.'
Seconds matter when attending an incident, and that could sometimes be held up by unaware motorists, he said.
'All you really want them to do is incident and move to the side of the road.'
In 2024, 27 people died and 153 were seriously injured in crashes on Northland's roads. The victims were aged from 0-86.
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.
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