Listen Now: 
Download AudioIf you see a sign on the highway saying “taihoa”, you’d better stop.
Traffic management expert Dave Taui is deploying a new set of signs in the Bay of Plenty for those controlling the flow of traffic around road works or incidents.
He’s using the standard red and green backgrounds and the internationally recognised palm up the sign, but instead of stop and go they say taihoa and haere.
There’s also a distinctively Māori look to the pou they are carried on.
He hopes it will generate respect among motorists and be held with pride by traffic safety kaimahi.
“It will give them a little bit of ‘wow’ feeling of ownership. My goal is if we can change one sign and get that adopted through any means possible, we might get a chance to change all signs for the one purpose, the preservation and the future of our reo,” Mr Taui says.
Even though the sign hasn’t been officially sanctioned by Waka Kātahi, he believes it complies with all the relevant risk standards.
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