With the government recently raising the driving age from 15 to 16 in an attempt to lower the amount of younger people dying on our roads, more concentration still needs to be on driver education. This is an area New Zealand has always fallen behind the rest of the world. Well things are slowly beginning to change thanks to an initiative brought to our shores by Peugeot NZ. It’s a one hour workshop set up in selected Peugeot dealerships around the country and is for children aged between 3 and 6 years old. Peugeot’s super friendly staff teach the littlies all about road signs, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings and give way rules (something most adult drivers seem to need educating on).
The kids seem to thoroughly enjoy the experience, especially the first session in the little Peugeot 107 pedal car where they are let loose on the ‘road’. There were cars everywhere, some even opted to take short cuts across the ‘grass’ and around the outside of the layout to avoid the gridlock that emulated most of the time. There was a small bit of contact between the cars and some did lose their side mirrors! After a few minutes of a scene straight off the Southern Motorway they were all sat down and given a talk about road signs and what they mean, what to do at a pedestrian crossing and so on. The children are then split into two groups with the one group getting back in the cars and the other having morning tea and some time for colouring in. This time on the road the kiddies were a little more composed going a tad slower, stopping at the pedestrian crossing and the traffic lights. Another chat then they were all presented with a certificate, a backpack and toy Peugeot 3008 before one last free for all.
The workshop runs throughout New Zealand until the end of August and if want to take your little rug rat along it would pay to book early. This will be very popular and I for one hope Peugeot continue with this program in the future. This is free but there is a suggested $10 donation with all proceeds going to Cure Kids. A great time for all, and for a very worthy cause. To book or for more info check out the website: http://www.peugeot.co.nz/events-calendar/.
View more photos here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.211989698825511.58245.100000434475565.
NZ On Cars 
cool idea!