SCHOOLS TO TEACH DRIVING IN LEARNING FIRST
Instructor says this is the biggest change in 50 years
A NEW young driver program heralds the most significant change to Victorian driver education in more than half a century, an expert claims.
Respected Geelong driving educator Craig Waters has been involved in a groundbreaking pilot program that could see all young Victorians trained and equipped with life saving driving skills during school hours.
Mr Waters, who heads Geelong’s Road Safety Educators, said the VicRoads-operated and TAC-funded pilot Road Smart program showed that the State Government was starting to take road safety education more seriously and move towards teaching the skill like any other school subject.
“This is most significant change to how road safety will be taught in more than 50 years,” Mr Waters said.
The program has been trialled in one Geelong high school and in other schools across the region and is set to go out to tender next month. So far the pilot has delivered 150 in-class and in-car sessions across seven schools.
VicRoads’ Robyn Seymour said the program would provide beginner drivers a comprehensive understanding of road safety.
Road Smart will be rolled out statewide next year to replace the long-running Keys Please program and will see all year 10 students taught a comprehensive road safety program through e-learning modules, a practical driving session, and resource toolkits.
Mr Waters, who co-developed and ran the pilot, said the program marked the first time Victorian students had been actively “coached” to think critically and react ef- fectively to the road conditions when in the driver’s seat.
TAC road safety manager Samantha Cockfield said, while the authority had investigated running long-term driving lessons classes alongside the school curriculum, it was not the preferred option.
“No mater what — we’ve found the most important contributor to driver safety is the introduction of the graduated licensing scheme. We really overhauled the scheme back in mid-2006-07,” Ms Cockfield said.
The TAC has also released Drive Smart — an interactive, online driver education program — and as part of the Towards Zero strategy established a Melbournebased road safety school that exposes students to the impacts of crashes, elements of road safety and other technologies, such as simulators, that can show them what can happen in an accident.