Year 11 News

Earlier this week, on Tuesday 21st February, Year 11 students attended the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) Program in Yanco. The RYDA road safety education program helps to equip young people with the knowledge to stay safe on our roads. This year’s theme was My Life: My Choices

On the day, students attended a variety of workshops that focused on the road safety issues of:

• Speeding
• Alcohol & Drugs
• Fatigue
• Distractions
• Wearing Seatbelts
• Lowering personal risks by making better decisions

Students also had the opportunity to listen to the story of a local man from Narrandera, Matthew Whiteman (a young 19-year-old who had a horrific car accident at the age of 11 on his way to the school bus). Matthew suffered horrendous injuries including numerous broken bones, a collapsed lung, and severe brain injury. Matthew stated that his severe brain injury is the one thing that has impacted his life the most, and has forced him to change his whole approach to life in general and his future. He also spoke about how this accident has affected both his family and friends. Matthew’s story touched everyone who was listening.

Another interesting workshop gave the students the opportunity to look at the different stopping distances between 40km, 60km, and 80km. Students were amazed at how much of a difference these speeds made and the impact it could have on someone if they were hit by a car at these different speeds from the reaction time of putting their foot on the brakes.

It was a great day with lots of information and hopefully students have taken something away from the day that will help keep themselves, their friends, and other road users safe on our roads.

My sincerest thanks goes to Mr. Summerville, Mrs. Cox, Miss McMahon and Mr. Marshall for being heavily involved throughout the day.

For more information about Road Safety Education and their programs, their website is a great source of information: http://rse.org.au

Ms. Lisa Davis

Acting Year 11 Coordinator