West Australian regional communities are gearing up for a week of road safety events to Save Our Country Kids.
When the West Australian regional town of Narembeen lost five young people to crashes on local roads in one year, the community rose up and said, "never again".
Nine years on, Save Our Country Kids (SOCK) Week is gearing up for its biggest year yet.
The week-long campaign, held annually on the last week of June, was started by Narembeen Community Resource Centre in 2017.
Since then, it has expanded to 21 other regional towns in the Wheatbelt and South-West to promote road safety messaging about drink driving, speeding, distractions and fatigue at local schools.
Several campaigns will be stationed in Narembeen all week, including the Blow Zero campaign with free coffee vouchers for drivers.
In a first for the Wheatbelt region, one of the State's new safety cameras - which capture drivers using mobile phones and not wearing seatbelts - will be deployed on Latham Road in Narembeen to educate drivers of the dangers of distracted driving and improper restraints.
A car wreck will also be on display in the Narembeen town centre to show the confronting reality of road trauma.
Other events include a walk to school day with Constable Care, a free breakfast event with the chance to 'have a cuppa with a cop', school guest speakers and student presentations and a sausage sizzle with emergency services.
The campaign comes together on Friday with a Fluro parade at Narembeen District Primary School to highlight to students the importance of being seen on the road and a candlelit memorial in the evening attended by emergency services and families impacted road trauma.
Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner said SOCK Week was a testament to the positive impact of road safety awareness when a community comes together.
"In regional towns, the loss of any person is felt by the whole community," he said.
"From the first responders - who most likely know the person they're attending - to school communities and local businesses who depend on each other, road trauma is long lasting.
"The success of SOCK Week is thanks to the communities who rose up to say, 'never again', and acted to make their communities safer for future young drivers."
SOCK week is funded with help from the Road Safety Commission.
In the past nine years the Road Safety Commission has provided almost $130,000 to the Narembeen Community Resource Centre and partnering regional communities.
"The Road Safety Commission is proud to support SOCK Week and I look forward to watching it grow and influence our most vulnerable communities," Warner said.
In 2024, 108 (57 per cent) of WA's 188 road fatalities happened in Regional WA, the majority of which occurred on high-speed roads.
More information on SOCK Week here .
For more information on road safety visit the Road Safety Commission.
