Papatūānuku Shows The Way To Road Safety

Anyone living in Te Hiku o Te Ika/the Far North of Aotearoa New Zealand, will recognise the iconic billboards featuring a wāhine Māori crying next to the saying, “One Tear Too Many”.

The image represents Papatūānuku, with her message for all road users to drive safely and stay alive on the district’s local roads and state highways. The road safety kaupapa was developed by the Far North REAP Road Safety Team in 2014, who recognised the road safety messaging was not resonating with the Te Hiku community. Over the next few weeks, a series of articles will explore the whakapapa of the One Tear Too Many road safety kaupapa, to explore where it all began, the kōrero from the artists behind the artwork and a new direction for the kaupapa. In this first article, Far North REAP Road Safety manager Jodi Betts talks about the origins of the kaupapa and how the image of Papatūanukū has grown to become a source of community pride for the people of Te Hiku. The Far North district has long held some of the country’s worst statistics for serious injury and deaths on our roads. Crash statistics from 2009 to 2013 released by Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) showed 12 deaths and 68 serious injuries resulting from unsafe speeds in the Far North District and 18 deaths and 85 serious injuries resulting from alcohol and drugs. Those statistics have continued along a similar trajectory over the years, with 2022 recording 14 deaths across the district and already 11 fatalities for 2023. Far North REAP Road Safety manager Jodi Betts said it was these numbers that drove her team’s road safety messaging and the reason for coming up with the One Tear Too Many kaupapa nearly 10 years ago. “This is not just an image of a wāhine Māori, it’s meant to represent Papatūānuku and her love and care for everyone in our community,” Betts said. “It’s also not a campaign but a vision of having an image that could interweave all of the work we do in the hope people could recognise and resonate with everything she stands for.” In 2014, the Far North road safety team engaged with two local graffiti artists, requesting a piece of work with a road safety message. The image created by Ahipara artist Haylee Solomon (nee Ngaroma Fitzpatrick), who was just 19 years old at the time, was chosen by the road safety team to be included in the developing road safety campaigns. Betts said Solomon’s artwork was chosen as it was her powerful image of Papatūānuku and the one tear falling from her eye (representative of one death too many on the roads) that was the stand-out. She said after years of working in marketing, the One Tear Too Many kaupapa and Papatūānuku image had been one of the most effective and universal brands she’d ever worked with. “We’ve conducted focus groups with Māori and Non-Māori, young and old, male and female and this image is one that resonates with everyone, it’s really quite incredible,” Betts said. “More recent surveys have shown the recognition rate, particularly in Kaitaia, is still very high and we’ve been able to use her image for road safety resources, buses, educational materials and road signs around the district. “Every time we travel around Aotearoa wearing our T-Shirts we’re always asked where people can buy them and that’s a credit to Haylee for her concept and what has evolved since then.” In 2015, the One Tear Too Many brand was officially launched with a billboard reveal in a paddock off SH12 near Rawene. Since then, several One Tear Too Many billboards have been placed around the district, with the brand evolving to adapt to different campaigns and technology over time. Coming up to the brand’s 10-year anniversary, Betts said it now felt like the right time to refresh and revitalise, especially given the higher number of fatalities in 2022. She felt it pertinent to do so coming into the district’s busiest season, with an anticipated large increase of vehicle volume and concern for the state of SH10 due to the SH1 closure at the Mangamuka Gorge. “We have decided to relaunch into new branding, but the essence of Papatūānuku has remained the same,” Betts. “In 2021 the road safety team worked with a design company and put a callout to artists to come up with their interpretation of Papatūānuku but based on the original image from Haylee. “These images were then run through local focus groups and the original image has now evolved into a refreshed resemblance.” Betts added the image of Papatūānuku had been gifted a new moko kauae by Richard Hape which would be officially launched mid-October when another local artist, Sheree Wagener, would put her own artwork alongside the refreshed Papatūānuku image. Stay tuned for part two of this series where artist Haylee Ngaroma Fitzpatrick talks about how she came up with her interpretation of the One Tear Too Many kaupapa and what inspired her about Papatūānuku.

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