Students drilled in RYDA road safety
Rotary prime mover in school-based programme
Hayley Hudson used to think it didn't matter if a motorist drove a bit faster than the speed limit. That was until she attended a RYDA programme, which gives high school students an extensive introduction to road safety.
Hayley won a $250 Prezzy card sponsored by VTNZ with this comment: “The way they explained calculations and visually showed how long it takes to stop helped me understand the difference between driving at 50 and 60 because before it was explained in that way I didn't really think it mattered, but they showed how that extra 10km/h actually does affect stopping distance quite a bit more and that the amount of metres you travel per second is quite high. I just think that it is happening in person was taken in by a lot more students rather than watching a pre-recorded video because we could make predictions and see how it compared.”
Hayley, who attends Palmerston North Girls' High School, later said “she was a much more vocal back seat driver when travelling with family”.
The RYDA programme is delivered by Road Safety Education, a not-for-profit learning organisation operating throughout New Zealand and Australia.
The RYDA programme is
co-ordinated locally through Rotary and is designed to complement the high school curriculum.
Students work with their peers to come up with strategies to be better prepared and make good decisions, both as drivers and as highly influential passengers. Topics include understanding how personality impacts risk to buying and maintaining a safe car.
“We talk about the fatal five — seatbelts, alcohol and drugs, driver fatigue, distraction,
speeding,” lower North Island programme co-ordinator Peter Knight says.
RYDA supports teachers on the journey as they provide their students with the tools and understanding they need to see themselves as active, responsible road citizens. It becomes part of the school culture from the first to last day of a young person's high school life. Beyond that, it provides students with the tools and motivation to stay safe on our roads.