Steering kids in the right direction

By Elizabeth Lillis
GRADE two students from Berwick Primary experienced life in the driver’s seat of a car last Thursday as part of a new way of learning about road safety.
The students drove small cars specifically designed for teaching road safety.
They are equipped with seat belts, have room for a driver and passenger and can be controlled remotely by an adult instructor.
Grade two teacher Karen Driscoll said this term the grade two and some of the grade three students were learning about road safety.
Mrs Driscoll said the visit by Kids Car Ed assisted the teachers to teach skills associated with safe road use.
Kid Car Ed coordinator Cameron Crouch said Kids Car Ed has been developed over a number of years with a keen desire to influence the attitudes of an up and coming generation of drivers.
The program covers all types of road use.
One of the aims of the program is to give the students an appreciation as to the seriousness of road use, whether it is as a pedestrian riding a bike or a passenger in a car.
“Developing a responsible and safe attitude towards being safe on our roads, is of paramount importance and considering 70 per cent of all child deaths are directly related to our roads,’’ he said.
Mr Couch said the programs was not designed to teach kids to drive, but was simply using the excitement of kids driving the cars to get their attention.
“It is a tool to get the students to listen and learn basic and vitally important lessons that will hopefully enable them to be better prepared to deal with potentially deadly but inevitable part of our society,’’ he said.