Supporting road safety education in Western Australian Schools

This paper describes the strategic approach taken towards child and youth road safety education in Western Australia. It outlines the role education systems and sectors, the Road Safety Council of Western Australia and School Drug Education and Road Aware play in supporting road safety education in schools. The paper provides a working example of how research findings and strategic planning have lead to action through the development of a targeted road safety education program for young Western Australians.

The topics covered include the identification of key target ages at which children are engaged in a number of specific road safety issues, including restraints for infants, pedestrian safety for school children and driving safety for pre-drivers. In addition, these key times represented periods where parentsareactivelyengagedintheirchild?sroadsafety.Italsofocusesonthe development of strategic alliances with key stakeholders for implementation. This strategic alignment will enable the success and sustainability of a focused road safety education initiative for the young people of Western Australia.

Examples of practical strategies that can be used by a range of road safety professionals to address issues in local and/or state-wide contexts, will be of interest to conferencedelegates.