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Almost 8,000 South Aussie school students are more aware of the importance of road safety after RAA’s annual Street Smart High event returned last week.
The 2021 iteration of the State’s largest youth road safety event was held on 19 and 20 October at the Entertainment Centre after being suspended last year due to Covid restrictions. The initiative is supported by the Department of Infrastructure and Transport.
The four-hour program included a simulated crash scene, real-life stories from people whose lives have been affected by road trauma, and a demonstration on the importance of ANCAP star ratings when choosing a car.
Several students spoke about the impact the day had on them after the event.
“I found it really informative and I learned a lot about how we can be safe on the roads,” said Tysa, a current student at Sacred Heart College.
With State Government figures showing road crashes are one of the leading causes of death among people under 25, our Street Smart High aims to reduce the road toll by developing positive road safety knowledge, skills and attitudes amongst the next generation of road users.
Our Community Engagement Senior Manager Ben Haythorpe said it was vitally important to educate novice drivers about the risks and dangers they faced when they get in a car or on a motorcycle.
“Young people need to be exposed to road safety education consistently, and over many years, in order to develop positive road safety attitudes and behaviours,” he said.
“To start the day, the crash re-creation is the thing that gets people sitting up in their seat, and they realise there are a lot more people involved in a crash than they may have thought.
“I’m confident road safety education such as this is impacting positively on students’ attitude to risk taking on our streets, and contributing to this long-term reduction in road trauma.”
He also said the feedback from teachers who attended has been overwhelmingly positive.
“We do a post-event survey of teachers who attend, and the 40 teachers that responded rated Street Smart High an average of 9.6 out of 10. 100% of respondents also said they’d recommend their school take part again next year.”
More than 65,000 year 10-12 students from over 80 schools across South Australia have attended Street Smart High since it began in 2009. The next annual event will be held in April 2022.
To learn more, go to raa.com.au/streetsmarthigh
