Young people as active passengers in a real world context

Keys for Life is the result of a major review by the Road Safety Council of Western Australia to identify best practice, evidence-based education programs to reduce the level of road trauma for people under 20 years of age.

Implementing a pre-driver education program includes developing a program that has a balance of real-world, simulated and classroom-based learning experiences.

This paper focuses on the strategies undertaken by School Drug Education and Road Aware in Western Australia to assist teachers to develop evidence-based and balanced pre-driver education programs for young people. It provides a working example of how research findings have formed the basis of the development of Keys for Life ?an outcomes-focused pre-driver education program that emphasises the importance of real world learning.

The topics covered, include a description of resources that provide interactive classroom, simulated and real world learning experiences; the focus on students as active passengers; the focus on the role of parents and carers as partners in real world learning; and the provision of professional learning for teachers.

Examples of practical, real world strategies that can be used by road safety professionals to address the development and implementation of pre-driver education programs in school, will be of interest to conference delegates.