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National | Driving

"Don't speed, our children are precious", is the call being made by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei

"Don't speed, children are precious." That is the call being made by members of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei in Auckland.

Leading the initiative is Teara Gillman (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei). She says, "So the goal is to reduce the speed on Kupe Street to keep our children safe our kaumātua safe our community safe."

This week two drivers were clocked doing over 120km per hour down Kupe Street, which Police Officer Tama Morehu (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) says is one of three streets in Ōrākei where drivers are known to speed.

"Jo here from the road policing team clocked someone at 91km in a 50km zone, it's just not on it's dangerous. We just clocked someone before at 71km p/h, that's just got not good."

Iwi members are working with the Police and Auckland Transport to address the issue. Auckland Transport maintains that there is a lack of funding for speed bumps and speed cameras because of other high-risk priority areas in Auckland. Therefore, the community is taking matters into their own hands.

Community member Te Amohaere Morehu, says, “We are a group of families from the community who are warning and challenging the community and drivers to slow down, not just on the streets of Ōrākei but all streets, with the main message being that our children are precious, drive slow.

Billboards featuring the children will be revealed next week in an attempt to drive the message home and kerb speeding.