Family ties at the core of Robyn's Road Safety Award

Trafinz treasurer Robyn Denton’s lifelong passion for road safety was acknowledged last month when she received the annual Leo Tooman Road Safety Award at the Waikato Police District Awards. Robyn was surrounded by her family and colleagues at the ceremony. Humbled by the award, Robyn says it was a recognition and celebration of all the people she’s worked with over the years.

“It’s an acknowledgement of the work done by many, many people. We will never know how many lives have been saved by the work we do, and how many families have avoided being dramatically changed by serious harm from road crashes.”

Robyn says she’s not a petrol head but does come from a ‘car family’, so she appreciated the award is adorned with a model of the long-retired Holden Commodore Police car. “My Dad and uncle would have approved – they loved (and collected) Chevys and Holdens.” A true Waikato girl, Robyn grew up around transport. Her family owned a bus company in Matamata and she says it helped shape her understanding and appreciation of transport from both the human and mechanical sides.

But the family connections are not limited to her past. Her husband Tony Denton also works in transport design, and their daughter Abigail also works in transport engineering, for private company AECOM. “With us for parents, I guess she had no hope of doing anything else,” says Robyn. “When we played eye-spy in the car, it was always cats-eyes, marker posts and speed limit signs.”

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