Acknowledgment of the debt we owe the people who carry out the stressful, sad, and unsavoury work of dealing with road accidents saw thousands of Western Australians wearing white ribbons over the Christmas holiday season.
The campaign, conducted by Western Australia’s Local Government Road Safety Strategy body, RoadWise, encouraged people to wear a white ribbon to say thank you and act as a reminder during the critical holiday period to be continually vigilant on the road.
Ribbons were distributed free from Council Offices, libraries and community centres. A significant part of the campaign was the many ‘Thank You’ ceremonies organised by Councils.
These gave citizens the opportunity to express their gratitude directly to personnel from the Police, Main Roads WA, the Road Safety Council, Fire and Emergency Services, State Emergency Services and health and education workers. It also included the many Volunteer Ambulance Service workers who give their time voluntarily to provide first aid to road victims across the vast State.
A special video was prepared to coincide with the campaign. It featured members of local communities, ranging from CEOs to schoolchildren, giving their messages of road safety.
“Every day road safety workers of Western Australia are living the road toll and seeing the tragedy that surrounds it,” said President of the Western Australian Municipal Association (WAMA), Ron Yuryevich. “The RoadWise White Ribbons for Road Safety campaign is a wonderful way that we can recognise the efforts for these people as well as reminding ourselves of how to decrease our risks as road users.”
RoadWise’s Julie Parsons said over 200,000 ribbons were distributed during the campaign.
“People and organisations are still requesting the ribbons even though the campaign which began on 3 December officially finished on 3 January,” she said.
For further information contact Julie Parsons, telephone (08) 9213 2054.
