Rotary kicked off a worthwhile program yesterday at the racecourse with the girls of grammar. It’s called Rotary Youth Driver Awareness or RYDA.
From the furnished material:
At RYDA, students get to meet and speak with a person who has experienced a devastating road crash; to see the distance it takes to stop a vehicle travelling at different speeds and to realise that an extra 10 KPH can in some circumstances have tragic consequences.
The RYDA Program targets 16 to 17 year olds who are at the stage of their lives where they start to drive or ride in a vehicle driven by their peers. Peer pressure from passengers has a major effect on the way young people behave behind the wheel and by addressing students as both drivers and passengers, the program aims to change the environment in the car rather than focusing solely on the driver.
Gerard Brennan from the Rotary Club of Canberra said that “RYDA creates in students an awareness of the causes of road crashes and supplies some practical strategies to avoid involvement. The program is unique as it attempts to influence attitudes and behaviours of both drivers and passengers before they get their licence”.
The RYDA road safety education program has been available to high school students in other parts of Australia for several years and is now being introduced into the ACT. RYDA is presented by road safety professionals including police and driving instructors. To date over 150,000 high school students across Australia have had the opportunity to attend this potentially lifesaving program.
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