Last Thursday, all Year 12 students went down to the Town Hall to learn about road safety through the RYDA Road Safety programme.

The day consisted of attending six different stations. Each station taught us about different strategies to use in potentially dangerous situations. The first session included Police Officers talking to us about different types of fines and crimes that result from driving irresponsibly. Another session focused on what to do when you are feeling endangered in a car and strategies for how to hint to your driver that you feel unsafe. An example of this is telling your driver they need to pull over for a bathroom stop, then during this time, messaging someone to pick you up if needed. 

The session that I was most interested in was a crash survivor named Anita. Anita told us about her story and this really was an eye opener to why you should always wear your seatbelt. Anita had taken her seatbelt off to reach into the back to grab a CD and as this happened, the driver lost control.  Anita flew through the windscreen, sliding along the road before her whole body flipping over the middle barrier of the motorway. Anita’s frightening story of survival is extremely lucky. During this day at the Town Hall, I learnt so much. The main message I have taken away is: always wear your seatbelt!!

Other key learnings from Year 12 students: 

"I was so surprised how much our emotion can truly influence our driving" - Millie

"I liked Anita's story because it opened my eyes that crashes can happen just like that if you aren't paying attention" - Mara

"I was surprised about how major the impacts of not wearing a seatbelt can be" - Bella

"It was a great interactive way to teach us about keeping ourselves safe in cars" - Grace

"I thought it was really interesting to hear about Anita's story of her accident and it taught me a valuable lesson to always keep my eyes on the road no matter what. I also liked when we did the braking distance because I don't always think about the safe braking distance between me and another car so now I am more aware." - Faith