Fit to Drive

Fit 2 Drive Presentation

Our Year 11 VCAL class participated in a number of interactive and informative presentations from Fit 2 Drive.  The mission of the Fit 2 Drive Program is to engage with young students in order to deliver road safety messages that will empower and support them to achieve zero deaths on Victorian roads.

Our facilitator, Jack started by asking students to identify risk behaviour that contributes to young driver crashes and injuries. As our students listed the various behaviours (speed, distractions, environmental factors, driver inexperience, drink driving) they were asked to identify whether each factor was low or high risk.  Surprisingly, we learnt that given the right circumstance each factor can lead to crashes and trauma (even texting while waiting for red lights to change - which the group decided was low risk!).

Our Victorian statistics on road trauma are frightening.  Of the 258 people who lost their lives, 43 were aged between 18-25 years and of the 4791 seriously injured, 964 were aged between 18-25 years. The message on road trauma is somehow not reaching our younger population. That is why this program is so important. The real life scenarios used in the workshops aim to support the students into making good decisions when faced with risky driving situations, both as passengers and in terms of their future driving safety.

A key outcome at the culmination of the program involves each student developing a personal road safety plan including strategies and things they would say and do in dangerous situations in order to stay safe on the roads. In addition to this, the class also developed a school community road safety plan that covers actions to help make those in their school or community safer on the roads. These plans were presented by our students Luigi and Luke to our Vice Principal, Chris Cogan who was very impressed.

The workshop was a success, and we hope that our students’ road safety plans will enhance their road awareness and empower them to become safer and more confident drivers.

Ms Vicki Handris

VCAL Coordinator