Senior high school students will be challenged to change the way they think about road safety when they participate in the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) program later this month.
The Rotary Clubs of Leeton and Leeton Central are continuing their partnership with industry leader Road Safety Education Limited (RSE) to bring the youth road safety program to Year 11 students from 14 high schools from across the region, including Leeton, Yanco, Narrandera, Griffith, Hay, Ardlethan, Barellan, Coleambally, Hillston, Lockhart and Ariah Park.
RYDA is RSE's award-winning road safety education program which has been held since 2001 and has seen over 600,000 students attend the workshop across Australia and New Zealand. The workshop content has been developed according to best practice guidelines for road safety education in consultation with road safety experts, professional bodies, government and the educational sector.
The RYDA program is a series of practical and powerful workshops that provide students a unique opportunity to learn essential life skills at a critical time in their lives. It takes each student one school day to complete the program. Leeton RYDA facilitators include NSW Police Officers, Council Road Safety Officers, Driver Trainers and crash survivors.
"Whether driving or travelling with friends, every young person contributes to the safety of the road users around them – RYDA gives students the tools and strategies they need to make good choices from any seat in the car," said Steph Puntoriero, Leeton Shire Council's Road Safety Officer.
Leeton RYDA is held at Yanco Agricultural Institute annually and over 5,000 students have participated in the program since 2008. Over 500 students are registered for this year's highly engaging and memorable one-day program which will be held from 27 – 29 February 2024.
"We are very excited to be offering the program to local students and students from other areas of the Riverina with some students travelling several hours to attend the event," said Mr David Lang, Leeton Central Rotary Club.
Locally, RYDA is supported by NSW Police Force through Murrumbidgee Police District, NSW Police Youth Command, Murrumbidgee Traffic and Highway Patrol Command; Leeton Shire Council, Narrandera Shire Council, MIA Advanced and Defensive Driver Training and Yanco Agricultural Institute.
RYDA is made possible through the support of RSE's corporate partners BOC, Toyota, Bridgestone, MTAA Super and Boral.
