FREE Cuppa for the Driver scheme has won the Local Government Excellence in Road Safety Award with their driver survivor campaign.
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The awards were announced earlier in the month at the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) NSW State Conference in Coffs Harbour.
Fifty-one businesses throughout the central west, including eight local businesses, provided travelling drivers with coffees to encourage them to take a break, Dubbo City Council road safety officer Jayne Bleechmore said.
"The campaign increases awareness of driver fatigue, highlighting strategies to avoid fatigue driving, complementing the existing Driver Reviver Sheme and even encouraging drivers to visit new towns and villages," she said.
The Free Cuppa for the Driver scheme operated from March 3 to 30, which crucially included the April school holidays and Anzac Day public holidays.
Ms Bleechmore said local businesses were very enthusiastic for the cause and had already asked to participate in the next stint beginning in March.
"Local businesses are really behind the campaign and have asked how else they can help," she said.
"One of the businesses said 'what is the cost of coffee if it saves a life?'"
There were more than 712 fatigue related crashes across the Cabonne, Dubbo, Forbes, Gilgandra, Gwydir, Lachlan, Lithgow, Moree Plains, Narrabri, Orange, Parkes, Warrumbungle and Wellington council areas between 2008 and 2012.
Fifty-four fatalities and more than 12,000 injuries resulted from the crashes, with almost 60 per cent of drivers involved not from the local area.
More than 150 participating businesses from 50 cities, towns and villages across 13 local government areas have given away 1500 free cups of tea or coffee since the Free Cuppa for the Driver inception in 2010.