Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils will be hosting an official screening of the NOT A STATISTIC! Youth Driver Education Program video on Tuesday 11 October.
The Councils' Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, says that this year's project is a little different than previous years.
"Like so many events, we have experienced two years of COVID disruption to our annual NOT A STATISTIC! Youth Driver Education Program. This year we made the decision to film the crash scenario, which is usually the live mock crash demonstration, to provide us with a contingency for future programs. The video will also allow us to train new actors and could be used in other areas across the region," Ms Suitor said.
The Youth Actors involved in this year's program, local emergency services, Councillors, Council Staff and invited guests will attend the official screening, which will be the first time the video has been viewed publicly.
Ten local high schools will take part in the program over three weeks, starting on 17 October.
"Year 10 students from our local high schools (and Year 9 or 11 in some of the smaller schools) will be taking part in the program, which includes a pre lesson, the video and a follow-up lesson.
"The pre-lesson provides information about the licensing system, licence conditions, common P Plate offences and random breath/drug testing.
"The follow-up lesson will provide students with the opportunity to ask us questions about the crash scenario and we'll also provide them with additional information about the Emergency+ app, car safety ratings and tips on being a safe passenger," Ms Suitor said.
The NOT A STATISTIC! Youth Driver Education Program has been running since 2009, during that time crashes on local roads that involved a young driver (17 - 25 years old) have decreased 27%.
"The aim of the program is show young drivers what can and does happen too often on our roads, in an attempt to encourage them to be safer drivers and passengers. The crash scenario is based on a typical P plate crash and is as close to reality as we can make it," Ms Suitor said.
