School Drug Education and Road Aware

Road Safety Education

Parents and carers are considered the primary road safety educators of their children.
Throughout the stages of child development, parents and carers play a critical role in ensuring their children - whether as infants, children or as young adults - are safer on the road.
School Drug Education and Road Aware provides support and information for parents in this area as well as information for children and young people via this website.

Getting your driver's licence

In February 2001 the Graduated Driver Training and Licensing System (GDTLS) was introduced. This means to get a licence in Western Australia, young people have to go through two learner phases and a provisional phase (2 years on P-plates) before they can obtain a full licence.

Learner phase 1 (L-plates)
Learner phase 2 (L-plates)
Provisional phase (P-plates)

Pre-learner phase (Planning for your L-plates)
The pre-learner phase, although not part of the licensing system, is something young people need to plan for and think about. It involves the period before the young person gets their L-plates, and starting the application process for getting their L-plates – possibly at their school.
In the period before the young person gets their L-plates it’s a great idea for them to be observant passengers, noticing good and bad drivers. If they are at school and the school offers the Keys for Life pre-driver program, then all that information and more is available. In addition they can start the application process for their Learner’s Permit at school through the Keys for Life program.
Young people can get hold of information such as the Drive Safe handbook to learn the road rules or download it from the Department for Planning and Infrastructure website (click on image to the right). This handbook is available at Licensing Centres, the RAC and Police Stations.

Relevant Websites

Young people can go online to the following websites to learn about the licensing process and road safety; and to study for the computerised L-plate theory test. The DPI website provides young people with the opportunity to practise the theory test online.

PBF – Paraplegic Benefit Fund Australia
DPI – Department for Planning and Infrastructure
free2go
Keys2drive

Once the young person has turned 16 and has completed the preparation, they can head to their nearest licensing centre to sit the L-plate test.

Road Safety Research

The area of road safety is well researched (see here for links) and covers a variety of topics, such as:

The big four - speed, fatigue, drink/drug driving, restraints
Novice driver review
Safer vehicles
Child car restraints
Young drivers
Crossing roads
Parents as role models
Children and road safety
Road surfaces and engineering
Crash statistics
Mobile phones and other distractions
Regional road safety

Reports and information can be downloaded from the following agencies and websites.

Road Safety Research, Policing and Education conference proceedings
http://www.rsconference.com/?check=1
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB)
www.atsb.gov.au
Australian Academy of Science (Fatal Impact - the Physics of speeding cars)
www.science.org.au
The WA Child Health Promotion Research Unit (WACHPRU)
http://chpru.ecu.edu.au/index.php
ARRB Group
http://www.arrb.org.au/
ANCAP crash test site
http://www.nrma.com.au/pub/nrma/redir/
Institute of Transport Studies - Monash University
http://civil.eng.monash.edu.au/
Road Accident Research Unit (RARU) - Adelaide University
http://casr.adelaide.edu.au/
Indigenous Road Safety HealthInfoNet
http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/roadsafety
Main Roads WA
http://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/NR/mrwa/run/start.asp
Roadwise
http://www.roadwise.asn.au/
Injury Control Council
http://www.iccwa.org.au/

In Western Australia, the Road Safety Council, in conjunction with various research agencies from around Australia, continues to develop research studies on a range of road safety issues and topics, some of which are relevant to children, young people, teachers and parents/carers.

Keys for Life: Parent workshop

parent and learner sessuib The Keys for Life parent workshop provides information for parents and carers to help young people to become safer drivers through supervised driving practice. Resources are provided at these workshops including a Supervised driving guide and a practice planner.
This workshop is a free, school community-based initiative for young people and their parents/carers that aims to promote the importance of supervised driving practice for learner drivers. By attending the 1 hour interactive session, parents/carers and the learner driver will learn about:

the importance of getting as much supervised driving practice as possible
how to plan and communicate to take the stress out of driving practice.

Parents can contact the RAC in the metropolitan area, or RoadWise representatives and SDERA Regional Project Officers in regional areas to attend the session or the Keys for Life staff at your child’s school.

Child Car Restraints

child car restraints Your child is safest in a correctly fitted child car restraint. Child car restraints are designed to provide the best available protection to your child.
All children aged up to 16 years travelling in a car must be restrained in an approved child car restraint. Approved child car restraints are marked with the code AS1754 which indicates that the car restraint meets strict requirements regarding the materials, design, construction, performance, testing and labelling.
When choosing a restraint you need to ensure a restraint suits your child, car and individual needs.
It pays to get an approved person to fit your child's restraint.An incorrectly fitted child car restraint can result in an increased risk of injury.
For more information on suitable child car restraints see the child car restraint brochure [pdf 1.10MB] and fact sheets.
For information on child car restraint fitting services visit www.childcarrestraints.com.au