Around 270 Year 10 students from three Albury public high schools took part in workshops designed to help increase road and heavy vehicle safety and awareness.
As part of the RYDA road safety program, Boral had a truck and a driver at the sessions, which were held at PCYC Albury on Keene Street on November 29-30.
Students heard from the Boral driver about their experiences and knowledge on operating trucks on the road. They were also given the opportunity to sit in the cabin to understand its blind spots, learn about stopping speeds of heavy vehicles, and the different risks and considerations when sharing a road with trucks.
It’s the first time the RYDA program has been held within the region.
RYDA is a professionally developed road safety initiative that aims to equip students with the tools, habits and behaviours to stay safe on the road as both drivers and passengers.
“As one of the Australia’s largest suppliers of construction materials, this naturally means we also have a large heavy vehicle footprint and are on roads everyday to support deliveries to our customers. We are committed to Zero Harm and safety procedures, extending to taking responsibility for road safety and better educating drivers and passengers with whom we share the road with,” said Rod Cousin, area operations manager for Boral Concrete.
“We are proud to provide long-term support of road safety initiatives like the RYDA program, and expand this education to the regional community of Albury-Wodonga. It’s important that we educate our future drivers on best practice road safety and how to think and act while driving, in addition to how they can remain safe on our shared roads. Playing an active role in our partnership with RSE is a great experience for us and the next generation of drivers.”
According to the Queensland Government’s StreetSmarts initiative, approximately 1200 people are killed and another 44,000 are seriously injured on Australian roads each year. The Australian Automobile Association says traffic injury is the biggest killer of Australian children under 15 and the second-biggest killer of all Australians aged between 15 and 24.
The RYDA program is professionally developed by learning organisation and not-for-profit Road Safety Education Limited (RSE), with the Albury-Wodonga program delivered alongside corporate partner Boral, which is one of the largest suppliers of construction materials in Australia.
John Elliott, RSE’s head of marketing and program delivery, added, “We’re excited to launch the RYDA program in Albury, marking the first one in this inland city. Albury has a significant presence of trucks on its roads, which provides a great setting for providing youth with the tools and resources to stay safe around them.
“Our RYDA program promises to be a good experience for novice drivers and passengers, highlighting the unique considerations of sharing the road with heavy vehicles.
Students at Murray High School, James Fallon High School and Albury High School joined the more than 735,000 young people to date, who have participated in the RYDA program, in part through the support of Boral, other corporate partners and governments.