Waipā District Council’s road safety co-ordinator Megan Jolly – pictured with Waikato road policing manager Inspector Jeff Penno – receives the Leo J Tooman road safety award at the 2023 Waikato district police awards.
Waipā District Council’s road safety co-ordinator Megan Jolly – who’s spent more than two decades getting safety programmes on the road in the district – has received the Leo J Tooman road safety accolade at the 2023 Waikato district police awards.
Known as the Waikato Police Pay Parade, the annual gathering acknowledges acts of bravery, long service and good conduct. It also recognises people who have significantly improved the safety of Waikato roads.
Leo Tooman is a former New Zealand police roading manager and Hamilton city councillor.
In receiving the award, Jolly was praised for her commitment to, and expertise in, her work.
While calling the accolade humbling, Jolly was quick to point out road safety requires a collaborative approach.
“It’s a huge honour to be recognised for the work I’m so passionate about.
“But it’s important to recognise road safety is a team approach involving a broad range of people. And I’m grateful to have worked alongside many different people over the years – including police, roading engineers and many others – all of whom are experts in their field.”
As well as her role in Waipā, Jolly is the Waikato District Council’s road safety co-ordinator. She has held both roles for 22 years.
Her work is guided by the national road safety strategy Road to Zero – the vision of there being zero deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads.
“That helps us focus on and support key issues and messaging from a national perspective, which we can then deliver at community level,” Jolly said.
Among others, her campaigns include young driver education days, fatigue stops, campaigns around rural speed, Lights on Bikes and bike skills, Plan B4 U Party campaigns, motorcycle skills training, rural billboards and community presentations.
An integrated approach of education, encouragement, enforcement and engineering works best when implementing the programmes, Jolly said.
Two of the longest-standing initiatives include the young driver education days and the fatigue stops.
The fatigue stops – which dovetail in with police speed operations – are run on SH 39 during the ski season.
They have been running for 20 years, and the campaign has since been replicated around New Zealand.
Hundreds of teenagers have attended young driver education days in the 15 years that programme has been running.
“I believe we are making a difference. We get a lot of positive community feedback, and reports of how people have changed their behaviour.
“I thoroughly enjoy the people I work alongside – whether it’s the community, or people from other organisations equally passionate about making a difference. I enjoy the variety too. No two days are ever the same.”
She would like to see each road user take responsibility for their own behaviour.
“We all need to drive to the conditions – whether that’s weather conditions, or the conditions of the road and roadsides.
“Equally, it’s also important to reinforce good behaviours. Many Waipā drivers are great road safety role models who continually upskill and strive to help others keep safe on our roads.
“Road Safety is everyone’s responsibility, and we should all play our part in keeping ourselves and others safe. The ripple effect of poor decision making can affect so many different people. Families and communities can be torn apart by someone’s unwise choice.”
