On the 27th of September the Year 11’s had the opportunity to attend the Street Smart High program at the Entertainment Centre.
Street Smart High is an annual road safety event that demonstrates to students about the realities of road trauma. The one-day event also gives young people and soon to be drivers the knowledge they need to know when driving or when they are a passenger. Year 11 students from all the schools in Adelaide witnessed a simulated crash scene, hearing from people whose lives changed due to road accidents, learn road safety skills and the knowledge they wish they knew before they had the road accidents. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be involved on the day by being asked to do the simulation. I was asked to demonstrate to the young people that were there about what can happen if they are on their phone when driving and how easy it is to crash. The police officers that were doing the simulator with me explained to everyone that it only takes 75 seconds for a driver of any vehicle to get distracted and have an accident while being distracted. The police officer also explained that the most common way that people have accidents is distractions when driving.
While the police officer was explaining about the distractions I was driving while holding the police officer’s phone. Whilst I was looking at the phone I was swerving all over the road and it was very difficult for me to stay focused on the road. This also led me to speed as I was doing 157km/h in a 110 zone and I didn’t even realise I was doing it.
It was a very stressful experience because you have to look at your speed, what’s ahead of you and what’s around you when driving and when being handed the phone it made it even more stressful for me to focus on all the required areas. I fully enjoyed the experience as it made myself and others aware of the possibilities when driving distracted. I would recommend all Year 11s in the future to have the opportunity to witness the experience that I had.
By Jacssen F