Townsville school students spend day at Reid Park for road safety program

As part of National Road Safety Week, Townsville students took part in demonstrations and seminars at Reid Park to create safer driving skills.

Erin O'Brien and Heath Ward from Graduate School of Motoring. Picture: Nikita McGuire

As part of National Road Safety Week, Townsville students were able to learn the correct tools, habits and behaviours to stay safe on roads, as both a passenger and driver.

The RYDA program, lead by not-for-profit organisation Road Safety Education Limited and supported by Boral, has reached more than 735,000 young people across Australia.

Students from Annandale Christian College and William Ross State High School took part in workshops including heavy vehicle safety from a Boral driver, which highlighted the risks when sharing a road with trucks, and heard a first hand experience of a car crash survivor.

The students were also shown a live demonstration from the Graduate School of Motoring instructors about how an increase in speed can increase the stopping time when braking, which can lead to death and injuries for pedestrians and drivers.

With traffic injury the biggest killer of Australian children under 15 and the second-biggest killer of Australians aged between 15 and 24, National Road Safety Week aims to highlight the impact of road trauma and ways to reduce it.

According to Road Safety Week data every year approximately 1,200 people are killed and more than 40,000 are seriously injured on Australian roads.

Chief executive and managing director of Road Safety Education Australia Terry Briss said the program reached almost 40,000 students per year.

“We applaud schools for committing to this educational experience and thank our corporate partners for their continued support and assistance in the delivery of the program,” he said.

“We need to do more than just teach a young person the skill of controlling and manoeuvring a vehicle. We must also equip them with the skill of critical thinking and appreciation for safety on shared roads.”

“The participation of our partners, including Boral, helps us continue delivering these educational experiences. Together, we are not only raising awareness of road safety but contributing to a reduction in road trauma – in short, helping to save young lives and reduce serious injury on our roads.”

Originally published as Townsville school students spend day at Reid Park for road safety program