Principles of Road Safety Education

The Principles for School Road Safety Education are supported and promoted by the national Road Safety Education Reference Group of Australasia (RSERGA). They have been derived from the evidence relating to effective learning and teaching practices across Australia and used as the basis for development of state based Road Safety Education policies and practices.

Overarching Principle
Implement evidence-based road safety education programs and initiatives in schools
and include local research and current legislation where available

Curriculum Ethos and Environment Parents and Community

Embed road safety education programs within a curriculum framework thereby providing timely, developmentally appropriate and ongoing road safety education for all year levels.

School management supports teachers to effectively implement road safety education by ensuring access to available resources and professional learning opportunities.

Use student-centred, interactive strategies to develop students’ utility knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivation and behaviours regarding road safety.

Actively engage students in developing skills that focus on identifying and responding safely to risk situations. Provide information to parents/carers that will encourage them to reinforce and practise road safety skills developed in the classroom, in the real road environment.

Encourage students to support and influence their peers positively as a way of improving road safety behaviour.

Consult the wider school community when developing road safety guidelines and policies and then disseminate this information to families and monitor implementation.

School management actively promotes road safety education by supporting staff to plan and implement road safety education within the curriculum and other school programs and initiatives.

School management actively encourages staff to model appropriate road safety behaviours and attitudes consistent with the school’s road safety guidelines.

Encourage and promote school-community participation in school road safety programs.

Review and update where necessary, in partnership with external authorities, the school road environment to encourage and support parents and carers to practise safer road safety skills.

Provide parents and carers with information that will assist them to reinforce appropriate road safety messages and skills (including school guidelines and policies) at home.

Provide parents and carers with practical, opportunistic and planned, on-road training for modelling of appropriate behaviours to their children.

Establish and maintain links and involve community agencies and local government in the delivery of road safety messages that complement and support existing school road safety programs.

Engage, train and resource school health service staff to complement and support road safety education programs and other initiatives in schools.

Source: © Government of Western Australia, School Drug Education and Road Aware. Western Australia, 2009.