Road Safety Education

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:05): My question is to the Minister for Road Safety. Can the minister update the council about what the government is doing to support road safety education for our state's young drivers?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:06): I thank the honourable member for his important question. I know that road safety is something he cares about deeply, as do most people within this chamber.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS: Last Wednesday, I had the privilege of attending the RAA's annual event, the Street Smart High program, which was held at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. For members who are not aware—and I certainly was not aware until very recently—this is an educational road safety program started by the RAA in 2009. It has grown year upon year and now is the largest of its kind within the state. More than 7,000 students attended this year's program across two days. They were mainly year 10 and 11 students, but also some year 12s, as I understand it. Students from 70 schools across the state, including regional schools in Mount Gambier, Port Lincoln and Broken Hill, received sponsorship to attend this important road safety event.

The young people who were in attendance make up the exact demographic that we need to be targeting with road safety messaging. Many of those people who were in attendance last week would have been just starting out on their learners or provisional permits and therefore it is vital that we reach these students with our road safety messages to slow down, put away their mobile phone and ensure they have a zero blood alcohol content before getting behind the wheel.

Street Smart High is a very powerful way of demonstrating how seriously yours and many other lives can be affected by a crash and why it is so important to make safe responsible decisions on the road. The program demonstrates the shocking reality of road trauma through a live simulated crash scene casted with real-life emergency services personnel and guest speakers who have been personally affected by road trauma.

Let me say that, although what students witness is a simulated event, I can assure members the experience itself engages the audience on a deep and truly emotional level which is not easily forgotten. I am certain that anyone who has been in attendance at one of these events will attest to this fact. Indeed, in the many years this program has been running, we regularly hear from attendees of the lasting impact and lifelong lessons that were gained.

The Motor Accident Commission has been a formal funding partner since 2012 and this year the principal partner, providing funding of $100,000 towards the important program. I would like to take the opportunity to extend my appreciation to the outstanding and professional support of SAPOL, the SA Ambulance Service and the MFS who all provided invaluable support to the program through the provision of staff, vehicles and time to make this program the great success that it is.

We know from road crashes that there is an over-representation of young people in the road toll. To provide some perspective on this, the statistics tell us that young road users are 11 times more likely to be involved in a crash in the first 12 months of their P-plates. Sadly, in 2015, there were 16 fatalities and 155 serious injuries recorded in the 16 to 24-year-old age group, each one of them lives that were taken far too soon or turned upside down through injury or temporary and permanent disability.

The Street Smart High program continues to attract more schools and students every year and this government is proud to offer its continuing support. We remain steadfast in our commitment to reducing the state's road toll and, with the help of effective programs like Street Smart High, we can reach our young drivers and educate them while they are still learning. As students left the Entertainment Centre and returned to their regular schools, we hope the message they took away is that everyone is responsible for their own actions on the road and that it will only take one small mistake to result in a catastrophe of a lifetime.

It was an extraordinary event. Any event that has on one day 4,000 high-school students in the room at any one time has a natural electricity about it, but you could feel the students who were present being captivated by the events that were unfolding before them. This program is worthy of commendation for all those involved and I wholeheartedly hope that the program can continue into the future.