State Government launches Road Smart Kickstart program in Albany to help keep regional kids safe on the road

The State Government launched its new road safety education program for regional students in Albany last Wednesday, part of a push to lower WA’s record high road toll.

Police and Road Safety Minister Reece Whitby attended Albany’s John Calvin School to launch the Road Smart Kickstart program, meeting with the Road Safety Commission as well as staff and students from the school.

The new program is aimed at Year 7 and 8 students and designed to shape their attitudes towards road safety before they are eligible to apply for their learner’s permit.

Mr Whitby began his announcement by acknowledging the State’s climbing road toll, particularly deaths on regional roads.

“The sad fact is that many of those people who are losing their lives are young West Australians, so we want to reshape the way young West Australians become drivers,” he said.

“We want to reshape their approach, their way of thinking about safety, to make them safer on Western Australian roads.”

Mr Whitby said drivers had an “enormous responsibility” for their own lives and others’, and that responsibility could not be ignored despite the State Government’s efforts to improve road safety.

“We’re improving roads, new technology, policing, but ultimately the responsibility comes down to the person behind the wheel, and with a young driver it’s especially important to make sure they have the skills and knowledge, but also the culture and the way of thinking about road safety that will make them better drivers,” he said.

He said the new program would be targeted at regional students and rolled out initially in the Great Southern, South West, and Mid West regions, with 55 courses being delivered to more than 1400 students.

The announcement follows the tragic death of a 15-year-old girl in WA’s South West in a car rollover near Logue Brook Dam, when she was one of six teenagers in the car, with a 16-year-old behind the wheel when the Toyota Landcruiser left the road and crashed.

Road Safety Commission director of education and behaviour change Simone Steele said investing in WA’s young people to shape their attitudes and behaviours around road safety was the Government’s “best tool” to help save young lives on the road.