About Us &
Our Mission
The international Pass Wide & Slow road safety message has been brought to Aotearoa and is supported by the community as there is an immediate need to educate drivers on how to approach and pass a horse on the road safely.
Pass Wide & Slow New Zealand has been established with the aim of reducing the number of incidents, deaths and near misses on our roads. This will sit as a permanent education and road safety platform.
40 deaths in 19 years
on our roads is too greater loss!
The creation of the PWASNZ brand and strategy has supported the work to formally recognise horse riders and carriage drivers as Vulnerable Road Users in Transport Legislation as we are currently classed as Other Road Users. The submission currently sits with NZ Parliament.
Watch PWASNZ rangatahi lead Delia deliver a powerful speech to Canterbury’s Mayors and Chair about why we need to have our road user status changed.
Who We Are
The skill set behind the platform includes a journalist, marketing strategist, who formerly worked on NZTA road safety in the marketing team, a senior strategic advisor and our representative for the rangatahi Delia. We are powered by the need to save lives on our roads.
Learn more about each one of us here.
We Raise Awareness & Generate Support
Stakeholder and community support is critical to the mindset change required to make our roads safer for both motorists, horse riders and carriage drivers.
PWASNZ is thrilled to be working closely with stakeholders New Zealand Police, Hato Hone St John Ambulance, The Automobile Association and New Zealand Trucking Association to improve safety for all on our roads.
Our team are in regular contact with our growing list of sensational supporters. We encourage more to join our community of support.
Many of our Stakeholders and Supporters have agreed to promote and share an educational flyer on tips around approaching and passing a horse and rider/ carriage driver, with NZ Police being the first to collaboratively endorse the material produced by PWASNZ marketing strategist Eve.
NZ Police have agreed to distribute the PWASNZ driver Educational Flyer across their stations and with the driver network as and when appropriate. The cost of printing this resource has been met by supporters and industry leaders Protranz Earthworks Ltd and Whiterock Quarry.
Kia ora koutou katoa!
Why We Are Doing It
Very little is known by authorities responsible for reducing death and harm on the road, about the silent suffering happening within the horse community across New Zealand.
The stories of near misses or road riding incidents that have resulted in permanent injury, is rife.
It’s a well known fact within the equestrian community that is now seeing children, their riding parents, professionals in the industry and veterans in the sport unite for improved status and road safety measures to better protect the lives of horse riders on the road.
PWASNZ knows data is lacking in this area and yet it’s been told “show us the stats”. We set about doing so…
We wrote to the Accident Corporation Commission (ACC) requesting information that it holds on death and serious injury relating to road riding incidents involving a horse and rider/ carriage driver. Its information was helpful, but the ACC team admitted its process was not full proof and made a suggestion that has led PWASNZ to obtain statistics that we have never been privy to reading, until now.
40 horse riders
DIED ON OUR ROADS
in 19 years
2000 to 2019*
There’s an even split between men and women. Aged between 10 and 75 years.
**2022 - three more horse riders lost their lives!!
PWASNZ wrote to the Mortality Section of Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand.
Within minutes we received a reponse.
Our request was accessible because it already has a specific code to record ‘animal rider’ or ‘occupant of animal drawn vehicle’ deaths. We were told this coding is consistent with international statistical classification. We were gobsmacked to read this.
Why did we or other organisations not know this or have this data?
Opening the file was hard. For the first time we have data to reinforce what we know…
People are dying on our roads whilst riding their animals.
PWASNZ has shared this data with road safety authorities. Remember, up until this point NO stakeholder agency*** has been able to provide comprehensive death or serious incident data to any person/organisation or parliamentary inquiry that has requested it.
***Ministry of Transport, Waka Kotahi - NZTA, NZ Police, or ACC
PWASNZ wrote to Worksafe – Mahi Haumaru Aotearoa requesting information it holds in relation to horse rider casualties on the road or beach between 2007 and 2024. It declined to provide data for the entire period due to the workload in assessing the 6,000 notifications for this time period, they did release statistics for 2022 to 2024. This is a period in which PWASNZ hasn’t been able to obtain information for from Health NZ. This information is helpful in understanding the big picture.
**Worksafe has recorded three deaths in 2022, aged 70, 28 and 26 years.
We are motivated to ensure no more lives are ruined, maimed or damaged as a consequence of driver’s behaviour, due to lack of education and awareness.
The PWASNZ team wishes to express its sincere condolences to the whānau and friends of every single rider killed and injured on the roads.
Have you experienced an incident when riding on the road?
