According to RTÉ News, this morning:
A new Road Safety Programme targeted at Transition Year students was launched today.
The new programme, sponsored by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin (pictured, right) and Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey, will be available for schools from this coming September.
It is currently being piloted in some 50 schools.
The programme covers issues such as seatbelts and airbags, driver fatigue, drink/drug driving, enforcement, basic first aid at road crashes, emergency services and rehabilitation.
The programme provides for visiting speakers, trips out of school, projects and case studies.
The programme does not include driving lessons.
Minister Hanafin noted that ‘while 2007 was one of the safest years on Irish roads in over 40 years, the stark fact is that 338 people lost their lives last year’.
She said education is key to reducing road casualties.
It’s expected that the programme will now be rolled out to 500 schools. Maybe this will improve Minister Dempsey’s "approval rating"…
More specific information on the programme itself can be found on the Department of Education web site, here.
2 Comments
Well all I can say about this is about bloody time!! I really hope it goes some way to teaching our children a few basics before they ever get a chance to get behind the wheel of what is essentially a deadly weapon in the wrong hands. I hope its well established by the time my son reaches transition year, only 6 years to go!
It’s about time we taught school kids how to drive at age 16 or 17 and then let them sit their test. At least they will have a full license before they leave school and not be waiting till their 20s to get a full license. It should be part of school curriculum, just like PE and religion. Makes sense…if it is structured well….compulsory hours in different types of weather conditions, night time, daytime driving etc…They may not be able to afford a car till later but at least they will have their full license and let’s face it, a car is essential to get about in ireland, unless u live in dublin or a town with some basic public transport, for a lot of people they need a car to get from a to b…and the public transport available is pretty bad in rural area, i.e. non existant
So let’s ‘TEACH’ driving at school too, theory is lovely but it only goes so far…….
Also, I was shocked to find out that most Gardai have never completed the advanced driving course, called ‘Roadcraft’, unlike their English counterparts…they just have a full license like you and me..no special techniques for high speed driving etc… oh scarey!!!!!! In fact, so stupid, you’d imagine this would be a basic part of training haha no wonder they are always crashing, it would be like you or me going out and chasing after a car at high speed with no training whatsoever…hmmmm….now there’s something to think about!!