Students from years 10 through to 12 at St Edwards College, St Joseph’s Catholic College and Terrigal High School will be amongst nearly 22,000 teenagers to learn about the importance of safe driving at the upcoming bstreetsmart event.
The students will witness a highly confronting car crash re-enactment and hear stories from young car crash survivors in a bid to dramatically reduce the injury and death toll amongst young drivers. The bstreetsmart event will take place from Tuesday, August 25 through to Thursday, August 27.
Now in its 10th year, bstreetsmart was started in 2006 by Westmead Hospital trauma coordinators, Ms Julie Seggie and Ms Stephanie Wilson. The award-winning event has proven to be so effective that it has been replicated in both Western Australia and South Australia.
“Although the content is highly confronting, it’s really important that students see all different facets of a motor vehicle crash,” said Ms Wilson.
“They need to understand that it is not just a matter of life or death, there are shades of grey in between,” she said. “These can include brain injuries as well as other permanent disabilities which are with them for life.
“Throughout the reenactment they are so engrossed in what’s happening, you could literally hear a pin drop. “What really drives the message home though are the stories of real life car crash survivors that are presented to them after the re-enactment.”
Research conducted by the University of New South Wales Injury Risk Management Research Centre has shown that students leave the bstreetsmart event with a changed attitude to driving and are more likely to retain road safety messages for an extended duration.
After the morning session, students spend time visiting a number of interactive displays before returning to the arena for further educational demonstrations relating to road safety.
Media release,
10 August 2015
Jo Wallace, Rubystar PR