ROAD safety fundamentals were the focus for Kerang Technical High School Year 10 students during a Road Smart session this week, facilitated by VicRoads and local driving instructor Amanda Gibbon.
KTHS Year 10 coordinator Nathan Henry said typically VicRoads run the Road Smart program at a Year 10 level and then the Year 11 students undertake the Fit to Drive program.
“The Road Smart program is the entry level program, teaching road rules and there’s the option for parents to give permission for students to take on some online learning modules, so they can do that through the Road Smart program and that qualifies each of them for a free driving lesson on the road,” Mr Henry said.
Instructor, Ms Gibbon explained the importance of having an appropriate starting point for budding learner drivers and a suitable system of progression.
“It’s all about stages,” Ms Gibbon said.
“You’ve got to learn the baby stuff before you can get into doing hook turns in the middle of Melbourne.”
Ms Gibbon is passionate about the program and its value, but expressed concern about its long-term sustainability.
“There are only a few instructors hanging in there with that program,” Ms Gibbon said, noting the associated cost.
“It’s a very important program and we’ll lose the funding from the state government if we don’t get some students in the cars and have feedback for the government to grant some money for the next session.”
As well as running her Learner and Beyond driving school, Ms Gibbon is also involved in the Keys 2 Drive program, an Australian Government initiative.
“Keys 2 Drive is more about finding your own way,” Ms Gibbon said.
“When you tell a learner driver to turn their headlights on, put their seatbelt on and you’re continuously doing that for 120 hours, then all of a sudden they get their Ps and there’s nobody there nagging them. So they’re struggling and that’s why we have a crash rate which goes up.”
Ms Gibbon said the Keys 2 Drive program was all about parents wording it differently, and asking the learners questions so they have to think for themselves.
The Keys 2 Drive program offers a free lesson to learners and their driving supervisor (often a parent), with a professional instructor assisting the supervisor to guide the learner driver to adopt safe driving practices.
