Free Cuppa for the Driver Ends on a High

23 Jun 2017 3:04 PM -

The multi-award winning ‘Free Cuppa for the Driver’ campaign offers a free cuppa to drivers who have travelled more than 100 kilometres from the address on their drivers licence, to prevent fatigue related crashes, wrapped up on 31 May and will return even bigger and better in March 2018.

The random prize draws for the various Free Cuppa competitions was held on 15 June in Leeton, NSW.

Free Cuppa for the Driver offers yearly prizes valued over $200 to different groups including, travellers taking advantage of the Free Cuppa offer, social media users and participating Free Cuppa businesses.

Congratulations to this year’s winners:

• Jessie Luchetti from Lithgow, who won the in-store prize draw after joining a Free Cuppa.

• Pilliga Café from Pilliga, won the participating Free Cuppa business prize.

• David Gee, won the ‘Facebook Selfie’ competition after posting a ‘selfie’ of himself at the participating Free Cuppa business, Café Cassaro in Balranald.

Deputy Mayor of Leeton Shire Council, George Weston drew the winning entries.

The Free Cuppa for the Driver team would like to thank drivers who collected a Free Cuppa, participating businesses and everyone else who supported the campaign. The success of this campaign in reducing fatigue related crashes on NSW roads depends heavily on everyone’s support.

A new Free Cuppa website was launched this year to improve access to information on participating businesses, competitions and how new businesses can join up.

Businesses in participating Free Cuppa local government areas are more than welcome to join Free Cuppa 2018, by contacting the Free Cuppa team through www.freecuppa.com.au

Road Safety Officer for Leeton Shire Council, Kym Snow, explained drivers should apply strategies to prevent becoming tired while driving even though the Free Cuppa for the driver program has finished for 2017.

One strategy can be factoring in breaks when planning long distance trips which can be at driver rest areas, cafés or Driver Reviver sites.

An interactive map showing rest areas in NSW can be found by searching for ‘rest areas’ on the Roads and Maritime Services website, www.rms.nsw.gov.au.

Driver Reviver sites offer free cuppas to travellers and are open on public holidays and school holidays throughout Australia. To find out locations and opening hours of Driver Reviver sites visit www.tollgroup.com/driverreviver.

Other strategies to prevent driving tired include:

• Stop in a safe spot or rest area and have a 20 minute nap if early signs of fatigue are noticed, that is yawning, heavy eyes and/or poor concentration.

• Share the driving on long distance trips.

• Get a good night’s sleep

• Avoid driving at night when your body will naturally want to sleep

• Avoid long drives after work

• Find out if any medicine you are taking may affect your driving

If you would like to support participating Free Cuppa businesses outside of the ‘Free Cuppa for the Driver’ campaign, the locations and opening hours of the businesses are available on the Free Cuppa website, www.freecuppa.com.au

Some participating Free Cuppa businesses offer a Free Cuppa to drivers all year round. They will have a Free Cuppa banner or sandwich board on display.

For more information about Free Cuppa for the driver visit www.freecuppa.com.au, or contact Leeton Shire Council Road Safety Officer, Kym Snow, on 02 6953 0911 or by email, council@leeton.nsw.gov.au