It only takes only seconds for something to go wrong on the road and turn a person’s life upside down.
An average of 400 lives are lost on NSW roads every year, many of whom are young drivers.
Road Safety Education (RSE), in partnership with Rotary, has tried to reduce this disturbing figure with its national Roadsafe Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) program.
Sixty eight Year 11 students from Narrabri High School joined their 11 peers from Wee Waa High, as well as six teachers, to take part in this year’s RYDA program on Tuesday, October 15. Six interactive sessions were held throughout the day, with most taking place at The Crossing Theatre.
The program aims to provide students with information that will help them make informed decisions and good choices on the road.
Twenty Narrabri Rotarians and their partners volunteered to run the day and several facilitators, including nine police officers and several Centacare workers, gave professional insight into the world of driving.
Sessions focused on stopping distances, hazards, distractions and risk, crash survivors, owning and maintaining a car, the impact of drugs, alcohol and fatigue and the role police play in motor vehicle crashes and offences.
The program has now been running annually in Narrabri for just under a decade, making young road users aware of the hazards of driving and their choices as either a driver or passenger. This year’s theme was My Life My Choices.
Narrabri Rotary community service director, Philip Norrie, is a firm believer in the program. “We’re not trying to teach them how to drive,” he said, adding “we’re just trying to get into their headspace about their responsibilities as a driver.”
Kate McInnes from Hunter New England Health Tamworth discussed the impacts a permanent injury could have on those who live through an accident, while a crash survivor told his story. Police conveyed the anguish that strikes friends and families of crash victims by presenting a real-life, fatal accident story. Police officers also explained the hazards, distractions and risks that can wreak havoc on the roads, and demonstrated stopping distances at different speeds with help from driver Justin Orman from Max Orman Toyota.