01 NOV 2022 Road Safety

Road Safety Programs at Kolbe Catholic College

Road safety is part of the extra-curricular program for our senior students. At Year 10, students participate in the Road Smart program, that prepares beginner drivers for a lifetime of safe driving. The Year 11 students take part in the Fit2Drive program, a half-day program, where the students examine the complexities of decision-making and risk assessment as a young road user.

Following are some student reflections on these two programs.

Road Smart (Year 10)

On the October 18, the Year 10 students participated in the Road Smart presentation that delivered essential information about transportation by Victorian Roads. The presentation encouraged inclusivity and conversation in my class. My presenter prompted questions and worked with the class to formulate answers to complex questions. The information and statistics displayed catered to the whole class guaranteeing the content could be easily understood. I was also pleased to hear clear explanations for some complicated questions I had wondered myself involving road rules or recommendations. Overall, I found this experience to be educational and valuable for our future.  -  Ardelina (Year 10)

On Tuesday October 18, the Year 10 students participated in a Road Smart presentation by VicRoads, which outlined several safety rules and policies required to know when beginning to learn how to drive. The presentation covered topics such as Safer People, Safer Roads, Safer Speeds, and Safer Vehicles; all of which play an important role on the roads. In Safer People, we learnt the significance of being able to work with other road users, to prevent death and serious injuries that can occur with reckless driving. By understanding the responsibility that we have as drivers, the presentation also explained to us the things that VicRoads puts in place that ensures the safety of our drive, through the topic of Safer Roads, like installing roundabouts at intersections and barriers. In Safer Speeds, we learnt the effect speed has, on not only ourselves and others around us, but also our vehicles, which can become severely damaged in the process, even by merely driving at 5km more than 60km/hr. In fact, we also learnt that the vehicle we are driving contributes significantly to our safety on the roads. In Safer Vehicles, we learnt that every vehicle has a star rating that scores vehicle safety out of 5, based on results from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program - to find these ratings, the presentation linked How Safe Is Your Car?, a website that provides safety information for all vehicles. Furthermore, the presentation was engaging and informative for all the Year 10 students, who are beginning to get their Learners and starting to drive. It taught us lots of different information regarding road safety and was an overall fun and enjoyable experience.  -  Ruta (Year 10)

Fit2Drive (Year 11)

On October 18 2022, the Year 11 cohort were joined by the Fit2Drive team where students participated in a program about how to be a safe driver. The students were introduced to the team in the chapel during Lesson 3, where they were then split off into their pastoral groups to reflect on what being a safe driver means and how to be one. They were then greeted by guest speakers from Victoria Police and Fire Rescue Victoria, where they demonstrated statistics of unsafe driving, the consequences of this as well as how to avoid them.

The Fit2Drive program was an interesting program as it taught us the basics of road safety and how we can deal with certain situations, and most of all, how to be safer on the roads. We were introduced to the Fit2Drive group, and we split off into our classes, and talked about certain behaviours that were either safe or unsafe on the road. We learnt about the fact that people who just got their Red Ps are much more likely to crash on the road as they don’t have the supervision. We also learnt about certain things you can’t do on the roads and the consequences for doing them, like speeding. Overall, it was a good day where we learnt a lot about road safety and how we can help contribute to safer roads.

A great acknowledgment for Mr Schepis for taking the time to plan this event and a big thank you to Victoria Police and Fire Rescue Victoria, the Fit2Drive team as well as the Year 11 Pastoral Care teachers for hosting a wonderful day for the Year 11 cohort. - Selafina and Riley (Year 11)