The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government is delivering on its commitment to drive the road toll toward zero with funding secured for another year for the bstreetsmart program.
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole said the program, now in its 15th year, aims to reduce the number of young people killed and seriously injured in road crashes.
“Every life lost on our roads is a tragedy, with each fatality having a ripple effect on local communities across NSW,” Mr Toole said. “In small country communities it’s not uncommon for first responders who arrive at a crash and the medical teams who try to save the lives of the drivers and passengers to know the victims. “Sadly six P1 or P2 drivers have been killed on NSW roads so far this year and there have been 20 fatalities from crashes involving a novice driver.”
Mr Toole said about 22,000 students from 210 schools were attending the event at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena this year, with the 200,000 th student attending today.
“This event complements our road safety education programs in high schools, which are focused on teaching teenagers, how to be safe drivers and passengers from the get-go,” Mr Toole said. “During bstreetsmart, students see a real-time simulated crash scenario and hear speeches from road trauma survivors.” Westmead Hospital trauma nurse and bstreetsmart founder Julie Seggie thanked the NSW Government for its continued support.
“It’s wonderful to see students so engaged as they see first-hand how speeding, drink and drug driving, fatigue and distraction are all major factors in road trauma,” Ms Seggie said. “bstreetsmart can be a real wake up call for these students and we hope to reduce the number of young people involved in major incidents on our roads.” The program, founded by Westmead Hospital trauma nurses Julie Seggie and Stephanie Wilson, has received more than $1 million in support from the NSW Centre for Road Safety since 2015.
MEDIA: Eleisha Rogers | 0439 867 112
