RAC’s Community Education team will take a trip to the Wheatbelt next week to present road safety education to students from Jurien Bay District High.
RAC General Manager Corporate Affairs, Will Golsby said 43 lives had already been lost on regional roads this year and it was crucial to educate students about road safety to reduce fatalities and serious injuries.
“We teach students about the importance of safe driving and being a responsible passenger, as well as the effects that alcohol, speed, reckless behaviour and inattention have on driving,” Mr Golsby said.
“Young drivers continue to be over-represented in WA’s road trauma figures and, tragically, are at much higher risk of being killed or seriously injured on our roads.”
“Combine this with driving in regional areas, where the fatality rate is five times higher than Perth metropolitan, and it is clear young people in regional WA are at an even higher risk.
“Drivers are also becoming increasingly distracted, with inattention now comparable to the number of deaths and serious injuries caused by speed and drink driving.
RAC’s recent Young Driver Survey found that more than 50% of young drivers are using their phones behind the wheel, despite ranking the behaviour as more risky than low level drink driving.
“These results are very concerning and show that while young drivers recognise risky behaviour on the roads, many still engage in them,” Mr Golsby said.
The presentations are tailored according to the needs of the school and combine visual, factual and interactive learning activities in a road safety workshop.
In addition to the workshops, RAC also suggests students and parents utilise other road safety programs such as keys2drive which gives learner drivers a free driving lesson with an accredited instructor.
The Community Education team will also be delivering copies of ‘My Family, The Elephant and Me,’ to Jurien Bay District High, Cervantes Primary School, Jurien Bay Community Resource centre and Lancelin Community Resource Centre as part of RAC’s Elephant in the Wheatbelt campaign.
‘My Family, The Elephant and Me,’ is a children’s storybook commissioned by RAC which confronts road safety issues that occur nearly every day in the Wheatbelt.
For more information about RAC Community Education, visit here
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Media Contact: Mikayla Wearne 0401 703 719 or media@rac.com.au
BACKGROUNDER
About the Elephant in the Wheatbelt campaign
- The Elephant in the Wheatbelt, launched in 2014, is a road safety campaign which aims to highlight the regions unacceptable road safety record, encourage residents to take ownership of it, change attitudes, and help reduce fatalities in the area.
- RAC has invested significant funding and resources into this campaign, and is working closely with the Wheatbelt community, road safety organisations, and the State Government to reduce road fatalities in the region.
- The Elephant is a life-sized sculpture made out of seven wrecked cars. It symbolises the ‘elephant in the room’ and the silence that surrounds road trauma in the region.
2015:
- In 2015 the Elephant was placed at a number of Wheatbelt towns, unbranded and unannounced.
- Later in the year, The Elephant visited events, shows and WA landmarks, including Parliament House, to start a conversation with Wheatbelt residents about road safety and how it affects their community.
2016:
- In 2016, the second phase of the campaign, ‘it’s my Elephant’, launched.
- This phase encouraged residents to take ownership of road safety issues in their community by featuring a number of local residents who were inspired to take action in their community.
- During 2016, The Elephant continued to tour the Wheatbelt, targeting schools, community events and shows.
- Written and designed by Perth teacher and artist, Sean Avery, ‘My Family, The Elephant and Me’ follows a Wheatbelt family on a road trip and has a central message at its heart; ‘we travel safe or not at all’.
- The book will be delivered free of charge to all primary school students across the Wheatbelt.
- Wheatbelt residents will also be able to obtain a copy of the book from their local Community Resource Centre.
- The Wheatbelt is home to over 135,000 people and is one of nine regions in Western Australia.
- 20 people were killed on Wheatbelt roads in 2017 (source: WA Road Safety Commission)
- 91 people were killed on WA’s regional roads in 2017 (source: WA Road Safety Commission)
- Less than 20% of the State’s population reside in regional communities, yet in 2017 these areas experienced more than half of all road fatalities.
