Club Education Manager Julie Smith said the team taught 2,403 students from Texas, the most southern school in the state, across the Goondiwindi region, in Brisbane and north Queensland.

“For some of these students, this was the first time they were learning about the importance of road safety, which we know can mean the difference between life and death for children, no matter where they live in Queensland,” Ms Smith said.

“It’s always rewarding to see how engaged the students are and how important it is for them to make conscious and safe choices, particularly given the varied traffic conditions they will likely face, including road trains, caravans, farm machinery, highways, country roads and exposure to driving at a young age on rural properties.”

Ms Smith said the Club had also launched a new Distraction Program for high schools.

“This program focuses on the interaction between adolescent, novice drivers and technology, such as mobile phones, as well as how passengers, peer pressure and different emotions and social settings can impact driver behaviour,” she said.

“Distraction is one of the leading causes of fatal crashes and with many of us, including our youth, so addicted to mobile phones, we believe this will be extremely beneficial in educating students about the irreversible consequences distraction can have when behind the wheel.” 

Ms Smith said the range of highly interactive road safety programs were tailored to suit every year level.

“Prep and Year 1 students are taught how to cross the road and enter and exit the car safely, Grade 3 students discover bike safety and the importance of wearing protective gear and Grade 5 and 6 children learn about bike, pedestrian and passenger safety,” she said.

“We use several props throughout the presentations, including replica traffic lights, a roll-out road and interactive technology to make sure the kids are engaged.

“In our high school programs, such as Docudrama, Cash IQ and Driver IQ, students are equipped with tangible, real-world strategies to handle situations such as breakdowns, car crashes, decision-making processes and how to be safe drivers and passengers as well as how to self-manage finances”.

Ms Smith said RACQ’s Education Team was excited to build on a successful teaching year in 2021.

“Last year we taught 69,000 students across more than 340 schools in Queensland and we look forward to delivering our valuable safety lessons to both new and returning students this year,” she said.

“We’ve been delivering educational programs in Queensland schools for 15 years and continue to introduce programs to protect our most vulnerable road users”.

Schools the RACQ Education Team visiting in the past week: