On Monday (18th November) Kevin and myself had the pleasure of seeing firsthand what our sponsorship money was going to. This year, we decided to sponsor the Drive to Survive in School Driver Education Program, run by Ian Luff and his team. We saw the talk at Saint Ignatius College (Riverview); with 250 year 10 students.
The morning began by listening to Jarrod Ingram who suffered a brain injury in 2006. He was an apprentice plumber driving a high-powered ute, way too fast and in wet conditions. The car skidded into a power post. Luckily Jarrod survived but sustained a major brain injury. He died 2 times on the way to the hospital. Jarrod stood at the front of the room and explained to students that this could easily happen to them. It has taken Jarrod many years to be able to walk again, let alone talk to a group of young people. His body still shakes uncontrollably, and he must drink beers through a straw as he can’t hold the glass without spilling the contents. The room was silent, and it was a big reality check that this could easily happen to anybody.
We were then shown videos of cars being tested for their ANCAP rating. Thank goodness only crash test dummies are used! BTW new cars are so much safer for inexperienced drivers!
Ian Luff then came onto to talk was about the importance of being S M A R T on the roads.
S = seeing, don’t take your eyes off the road. They explained how tunnel vision can happen in as little as 3 seconds, so to avoid this move your eyes every 3 seconds by checking all your mirrors and speed
M – mindset and motivation, a motivated driver is switched on to achieving safe outcomes
A – Attitude – the most important thing you will ever own is your attitude.
R- Reacting, every action is followed by an equal and opposite reaction
T- timing techniques, nobody owns time, it’s what you do with it, how you apply attitude behaviour and your driving skills.
Overall the morning was fantastic and a great refresher course for somebody who has been driving for many, many years!
Thank you for the invite.