RAC’s Road Smart program brings high school students face-to-face with the consequences of car crashes

Great Southern high school students got an in-depth look into the reality of road trauma and the importance of road safety last week, with RAC’s Project Road Smart taking over the Albany Entertainment Centre.

Students in Years 10-12 from high schools from Albany, Mt Barker and Denmark attended the half-day program at the AEC on Wednesday morning, hearing from emergency services workers and the survivor of a serious road crash.

A filmed re-enactment of a serious car crash featured real-life paramedics, firefighters and police, giving the students an insight into how first responders deal with a serious crash on WA roads.

After the presentation inside the AEC, students got a look inside an ambulance, talked to firefighters and tested some of their gear commonly used at the scene of a car crash.

With 159 lives already lost on WA roads this year, and 51 per cent of those deaths in regional areas, RAC’s general manager of external relations Will Golsby said it was essential for young drivers to understand the consequences of their choices and actions on the road.

“Project Road Smart helps students understand their responsibilities the moment they get behind the wheel, and reinforces how every decision on the road can have serious consequences,” he said.

“We aim to equip students with vital knowledge about safe driving and passenger behaviour, highlighting the dangers of alcohol, speeding, reckless actions, and distraction.”

Robert Pike’s life was changed irrevocably by a car crash when he was 17 years old, when he lost both legs, broke his back, and three of his friends were killed.

Mr Pike was a passenger in the backseat of his friend’s car, and the driver lost control of the vehicle on a wet road and hit a tree.

The car was sliced in half, and Mr Pike was the sole survivor of the crash.

He shared his experience with the students, many of whom was the same age as he was when the accident happened, including the goals he had for his future that he had to give up after the crash, the trauma of the crash, and the grief for his friends.

“I was the same age as these students with a mindset of ‘it would never happen to me’,” Mr Pike said.

“For change to happen, students need to see the consequences and not just hear about them.”