Newsletter. Rotary Clubs fostering Youth Driver Awareness. Good, Better, Best!

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1 Rotary Clubs fostering Youth Driver Awareness Welcome to the latest edition of the RYDA Newsletter - we hope that you enjoy reading our quarterly update on events and developments with the RYDA road safety education program. Newsletter Spring Edition, September 2011 Good, Better, Best! Message from the Managing Director, RYDA Australia, Terry Birss At RYDA we teach students the value of selecting a motor vehicle that has the highest possible Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) star rating that indicates the level of safety they provide in the event of a road crash. For greatest safety it is recommend that consumers should only buy ANCAP 5 star rated vehicles. Choosing a road safety education program is a bit like selecting a safe car you should only choose a program that performs best when bench-marked against what research indicates will produce the best outcome for the students. Most jurisdictions across Australia and New Zealand have published guidelines or principles on what constitutes Best Practice for youth road safety education. RYDA has used these guidelines to help produce a highly respected and effective, award winning Program. The best practice principles can by distilled into five broad themes: program content, program delivery, consistent sequential learning, broad community engagement and evaluation. Following are some of the key elements of a Five Star road safety education program: Focus on attitude and awareness Do not include shock tactics Include the influence of passengers Apply multiple educational strategies including small group work Do not include practical driver training Evaluate the impact on participants road use behaviour and attitudes Aware that inappropriate messages to students can cause harm, RYDA Australia continues to make a very substantial investment in the RYDA Program to ensure that students receive a program that consistently meets best practice road safety education standards. Further details including a full list of the Best Practice guidelines and source document references are available from our website Founding Sponsor (Australia & NZ) Founding Sponsor (New Zealand) Rotary Clubs in Australia (ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic & WA) & New Zealand

2 Making New Zealand Roads a Safer Place In May 2011, transport legislation designed to improve the safety of young drivers and crack down on high-risk drivers in New Zealand was passed in Parliament. This is a major step forward to improving road safety and bringing down the road toll. The Land Transport (Road Safety and other Matters) Amendment Bill includes three measures that are of major significance to enhancing the safety of our young drivers. These should be fully implemented by mid-2012 and include: Increasing the minimum driving age, from 15 to 16 (in force from Monday, 1 August, 2011). Transitional arrangements are in place for drivers aged under 16. Lowering the drink drive limit for drivers under the age of 20 from 30 milligrams alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood to zero (in force from Sunday, 7 August). In February next year the restricted licence test will be strengthened to encourage young and novice drivers to spend more time practising their skills under supervision before they are able to drive solo. Raising the licence age from 15 to 16, and measures to strengthen the restricted driving test are responses to the disproportionate number of fatal and serious crashes involving young people. Young people (15-19 years) make up 6.1% of New Zealand s licensed drivers, but in 2010 they were involved in around 17% of all serious injury crashes. Crashes where young drivers were at fault resulted in 60 deaths and 385 serious injuries last year alone. Even more concerning is that 48% of those fatalities and 33% of those seriously injured in crashes where teen drivers were at fault involve alcohol as a factor. What a Great Offer!! In the My Wheels session of the RYDA Program, students learn about many aspects of vehicle safety and how the choices they make can help them stay safe on the road. Students are challenged to consider what they would do if they find themselves stuck in a vehicle that has broken down and they are stranded away from their usual support network. This could be a potentially dangerous situation, however Free2go aims to help. Photograph courtesy of the NRMA Free2go website At RYDA, the students are made aware of the free roadside assistance programs such as the NRMA Free2go program in NSW and ACT, which has been specifically designed for the lifestyle needs of year olds. NRMA Free2go is provided by the NSW-based NRMA Motoring and Services organisation, with many other similar motoring organisations offering a similar service in their respective States. As a NRMA Free2go Member, students obtain FREE personal roadside assistance 24/7, 365 days a year regardless if the student is the driver or a passenger. Importantly as the name suggests, Free2go is indeed free and comes with no catches or contracts for the students. Application forms for the NRMA Free2go program are provided to all students attending RYDA at our venues across NSW and the ACT. Further information is available by entering Free2go into your favourite search engine. Further information on the Road Safety and Other Matters Amendment Bill is available at Further information on the transitional arrangements in place for drivers aged under 16 when the driving age increases is available at

3 Community Sponsorship is Just the Ticket for South East Queensland Students New Zealand Steel - Sharing a Commitment to Road Safety In 2007, New Zealand Steel became a principal sponsor for RYDA and has watched the program grow year on year. NZ Steel s, Vicki Woodley says In our local community, speed, driver error and alcohol are still the main reasons that people continue to have serious accidents on our roads. We are committed to raising road safety awareness, and by reaching these young people through RYDA, we are confident they will take valuable lessons on board for life. The emphasis on driver safety is a good fit with our own safety culture at New Zealand Steel, and many of our employees have family members or friends that fit into the vulnerable age bracket that RYDA targets. Whilst every effort is made to keep the student fee to a minimum, the added cost of transport to and from a venue can impact on a student s or school s decision to attend the RYDA Program. The Rotary Clubs in the Redlands district of South East Queensland noticed a drop in attendance from the nine schools in their area and decided to investigate. They soon learnt that whilst the schools and parents greatly valued the RYDA Program, the recent economic downturn made it difficult to afford the additional cost of $10-$15 for transportation. Believing strongly in the importance of RYDA s road safety messages for their local teens, the Club set about finding sponsorship. First stop - the local Council website. Here they learned of a grant scheme for community programs. They applied and were successful to the tune of $10,000. Rotary District 9630 Chair, Phil Robinson Next, the team set their sights on the RSL. RSL Clubs are obliged to return to the community a percentage of their poker machine profits and return they did - $5,000 for two years. Finally, they approached the local Sharks Sporting Club and were successful in receiving a further $5,000. Although only implemented within the last 18 months, the new RYDA Program is already in the process of being reviewed and it s anticipated that a new edition of the Facilitator s Manual will be released by the end of the year. Check out RYDA s next Newsletter for more details. With a bit of hard work and creative thinking, the Rotary Clubs from the Redlands district have raised $20,000 in the name of road safety education. These funds have already paid for a number of buses to bring students to and from the RYDA Program, increasing attendance considerably. If you are looking for a way to support your local RYDA Program, look at the options in your own community, more often than not, the money is there... you just need to ask!

4 RYDA at Home with BOC Visitors to the RYDA Australia National Office (housed at Founding Sponsor BOC s HQ) were always surprised at how we managed to squeeze so much into such a small office space. Indeed, with the additional staff coming on board and increased volume of program resource material being despatched from the RYDA office, the space was becoming unworkable. Pictured (L-R) RYDA team members June Ryan, Greg Rappo and Josh Donohoe with BOC s Jenny Catton in the new RYDA storage facility Spotlight Rotarian Alistair Coleman With space at the BOC Head Office at a premium, BOC put their creative team to work, refurbishing the space and constructing a storage space within the car park, giving the RYDA Australia team a new, safe and very functional work environment. Importantly, the new office facility now provides the National Program staff with a work environment that is conducive to providing timely support to the seventy venues around the country and implementing a high quality road safety education program. Special thanks to BOC North Ryde Facilities Coordinator, Jenny Catton for her help and guidance to get the job done. Alistair Coleman is a man on a RYDA mission. A Rotarian since 1990, Alistair is a current member of the Rotary Club of Bishopdale Burnside, NZ. He is the current RYDA Chair in Rotary District 9970 and was appointed to the RYDA New Zealand board this year. Alistair has held a number of senior executive roles for a diverse set of businesses during the course of his professional career, developing skills and competencies that have proved invaluable for the growth of RYDA. Alistair says, The waste of young lives on our roads is an absolute tragedy. RYDA brings a very professional and credible youth road safety program which can make a real difference. From a Rotary perspective, RYDA is one of the best return on Investment rotary projects that I am aware of. Alistair s vision is to deliver the RYDA program to 75% of students in District 9970 by If his current achievements are anything to go by, this will only be exceeded.

5 RYDA Hops Into Adelaide The RYDA Program is conducted at a wide range of different venues across Australia and New Zealand the venue often helps to make the day special and memorable for the students. The Rotary Club of Adelaide South certainly chose a unique and very interesting venue for their first RYDA Program that was recently conducted at the Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Adelaide. Tandanya is the local aboriginal word for Red Kangaroo and this is honoured in its logo design. Pictured (L-R): RYDA Coordinator, Mark Waterman, a rare photo of RYDA s Greg Rappo and BOC Senior Safety Specialist Karen Gillespie The new Adelaide venue, which boasted a large theatre with tiered seating that provided a great atmosphere for the Police and Crash Survivor sessions, proved to be ideal for conduct of the RYDA Program. Students from Adelaide High School had an outstanding experience participating in the various RYDA sessions at the Tandanya centre with the Stopping Distances session conducted at nearby Victoria Park. Congratulations to local Rotarian Mark Waterman and the many other members from the Rotary Clubs of Adelaide South and Adelaide who helped to establish RYDA at the new Adelaide venue. Our Rotary District 9500 RYDA supporters Jan and Craig Rogasch also provided their usual guidance and hands-on support to help it all run smoothly. We were also pleased to welcome then District 9500 Governor, Ed King and Adelaide based BOC Senior Safety Specialist Karen Gillespie who visited RYDA at the Tandanya Centre on the day. Finally, we wish to thank the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute for their generous support and assistance in providing access to their wonderful venue. The RYDA Team + 1 The staff from the Australian National Program Office were delighted to add another long-awaited member to the team when June Ryan joined them as Senior Accounts Administrator, just in time for the end of the financial year. June, who comes to RYDA with over 30 years accounting experience, says she was drawn to the position after being impressed by the work that RYDA does for young drivers. RYDA NZ s General Manager Forges Ahead Ru Tauri, RYDA New Zealand s recently appointed General Manager, has been making great strides since he began with the company in March Since his appointment, Ru has focused his energies on, amongst many things, ensuring the credibility and sustainability of RYDA, the organisation and the program. He comes to RYDA with an extensive Event/Client Relationship Management background where he had worked, most recently, in NZ motorsports, managing relationships with sponsors, local government and volunteer groups across New Zealand. In 2007 he worked for Hurricane Events Management, an Australian Events Production Company assisting corporates with their client engagement programs. Prior to this, Ru worked in Events and Client Relationship Management roles in the South-East England and Auckland. Ru says, NZ teens take far too many risks and so to be part of an organisation that looks to change the attitude and behaviour of our teens is a challenge that I take very seriously.

6 Facilitator Training Program The efficacy of a road safety education program is to ensure that the program is targeted, based on good evidence and delivered by well trained Facilitators. Whilst the Program, as it is written, meets all standards as outlined in the cover story of this newsletter, RYDA also needs to be certain that Facilitators are also meeting the standard. To that end, RYDA has introduced a new Facilitator Training Program currently being rolled out across Australia and New Zealand. Facilitator Training will be undertaken in three distinct modules. Module one is self-directed learning completed on-line. Working hand in hand with the Facilitator s Manual, this module provides facilitators, and potential facilitators, with the opportunity to view videos of all six RYDA sessions and build and understand the links between the sessions. It gives them the chance to be a fly on the wall as other experienced facilitators deliver the program. Module two of the Facilitator Training is focussed on facilitators developing and improving their skills in working effectively with adolescents. Regardless of how good the program content or the facilitator s knowledge, if the facilitator is not a competent communicator, all this good work will be lost. In module two, facilitators learn classroom management techniques and communication strategies to become capable and effective facilitators. Once modules one and two have been successfully completed, facilitators will undertake module three in the classroom situation. Here, they are teamed with an experienced facilitator, giving them the opportunity to work with high school students until a stage where they are ready to fly solo, whereby becoming an accredited RYDA Facilitator. The RYDA Facilitators Training Program is substantial and only through such commitment from our Facilitators are we able to ensure that an outstanding road safety education program will be delivered by well trained and competent Facilitators. Another Bumper Year We have already received some top-standard, thoughtprovoking contenders for this year s student design bumper sticker competition. The competition is open to all students who attend RYDA at any of the 70+ venues across Australia during the 2011 school year. Students are asked to design a bumper sticker that promotes a positive road safety message taken from any or all of the six sessions of the RYDA Program. We encourage all venue coordinators to promote this competition on the day of attendance, directing students to the RYDA website. Getting creative with their entry gives the individual an opportunity to dissect and reflect on the day and disseminate a road safety message in a way and language that is meaningful to them and their peers, whereby taking the message learnt at the RYDA program onto the streets, into schools and into homes. As is evident from the entries we have already seen, the road safety messages delivered at RYDA are making a powerful impact. The winning entry will be drawn at the end of December and announced in our January Newsletter. The competition will soon be made available in New Zealand.

7 Making Inroads on Road Statistics A recent report released by the Australian Government s Department of Infrastructure and Transport which looked at annual counts and rates for fatal road crashes and fatalities over the last ten years highlighted an encouraging decrease in serious collisions, injury and death on Australia roads. From the Road Deaths Australia 2010 Statistical Summary : Over the last decade, national annual fatalities decreased by 21% and fatalities per population decreased by 32%. The age group has the largest rate of fatalities per population. It accounts for 13% of the population by 25% of deaths. Over the decade, however, the rate for this group has declined faster than the total. Males account for 73% of all deaths, making them two times more likely to be killed in a road crash than females. Ten years ago, they accounted for the same percentage. There s still a lot more work to be done, but we re headed in the right direction. Suncorp Insurance Offers Incentive and Assistance to South East Queensland Schools Every year, hundreds of young Queenslanders are injured on Queensland roads. Suncorp Insurance is committed to protecting Queenslanders and their way of life and they are on a mission to make Queensland roads safer. That s why Suncorp Insurance supports RYDA and wants to encourage young people to participate in the RYDA program. Schools that book and attend a RYDA Day for the 2012 School Year at either a Brisbane, Ipswich or Gold Coast venue, could win $5,000 to spend on a Road Safety initiative for their school, thanks to Suncorp Insurance. Bookings must be made on or before 1 December 2011 to go into the draw. Interested schools should Tahnia Cook at tahnia@ryda.org.au to register. The winner will be notified on 5 December Full competition terms and conditions are available at

8 Prominent New Faces Lend Their Support RYDA Australia Board: It is our privilege to welcome new member, Denis Cortese to the RYDA Australia Board. Mr Cortese enjoyed a long career with the Australian Tax Office in Sydney, Canberra, Tasmania (as Deputy Commissioner). He was appointed Deputy Commissioner in Sydney in 1984, a position he occupied during a period of great change. On retirement from the ATO in 1996 he was appointed as the Independent Director to the Board of the NSW Rugby League having also served as a member and Chairman of St Vincents Private Hospital Advisory Board. He served as a member of the Research Advisory Board of the Australian Taxation Research Foundation 1993 to 1999 and as a Governor of that organisation from 1995 to A former National President of CPA Australia 1997/98 he served as Deputy Chair of the Disciplinary Panel for a number of years to March Until recent years he was involved in a Strategic Consulting Business. He joined the Rotary Club of Sydney in 1985 and served as President in 1994/95. RYDA Foundation: We are pleased to announce that A/Prof Dr Brian Owler has accepted the role of Vice Patron of the RYDA Foundation. A/Prof Owler, Australian trained neurosurgeon, is based at Westmead and is a Consultant Neurosurgeon at several other Sydney Hospitals. A/Prof Owler has a PhD from the University of Sydney and spent 18 months performing research at the Academic Neurosurgery Unit at the University of Cambridge. He is Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Sydney. A/Prof Owler is also a member of Council of the NSW AMA representing surgeons and serves on a number of other clinical committees. A/Prof Owler lends his support to the Foundation along with recently announced Vice Patrons, Gillian Moore, Kenneth Moroney and The Hon James Wood. Contacting RYDA If you are interested in booking your school to attend a RYDA Program, establishing a venue in your town or seeking any further information on the Program, please contact RYDA at: RYDA Australia National Program Office Level 2, 10A Julius Avenue North Ryde NSW info@ryda.org.au RYDA New Zealand National Office PO Box 56313, Auckland (0) ru@ryda.org.nz We thank all our sponsors for their continued generous support in Australia & New Zealand in Australia in New Zealand RYDA Australia Limited (ABN: ) RYDA New Zealand Limited (Registered Charitable Entity No CC27875)