Media announcement – October 9, 2009

Don College Students Take Road Safety Seriously

On Monday October 12 at the Bendigo Bank Arena (Latrobe Speedway) - some young students from the Don Campus will be learning about driving safely and car control under the guidance of one of Australia’s leading defensive driving companies – Driver Skills Australia.

Each driver will be undertaking a full day course to learn about the risks associated with driving and how to become a safer road user. The program includes a comprehensive theory presentation before the drivers head outside to learn about the importance of correct seating and steering positions.

Some carefully designed exercises help drivers learn about the effects of speed, changing road surfaces and how to apply effective vision skills with defensive driving to avoid most crashes.

“We are very excited to run this program for the Don Campus students as we believe that this training will help these drivers become aware of the risks associated with driving. You can only learn so much on the road and from advertising campaigns in the media. Our course allows drivers to find out first hand about the effect of speed on stopping distances. Every time we run a course drivers are amazed how an increase of 20km/h can make a huge difference on stopping distances – and more importantly how slowing down a little can make a big difference if you do have to stop.” said Driver Skills Australia director Mark Butcher.

The course will also see a local police car joining in as well as some of the teachers. “The support for this day has been fantastic and we really hope that this will be the first of many similar programs to be run at high-schools in Tasmania and Australia. The police will not just be coming along – they are going to do the course and this just shows that no matter what experience level each driver has – there is always room for practice and further improvement” said Butcher.

Driver Skills Australia is now based in Tasmania and operates with a team of trainers Australia wide. Driver Skills Australia provide training to many of Australia’s largest organisations including BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto as well as many government departments including the Australian Army.

With professional and friendly trainers, courses are becoming very popular and are ideal for drivers of any experience level.

The friendly team at Elite Crash Repairs have been kind enough to support this program by allowing access to the venue and Driver Skills Australia would also like to thank Dayna Broun from the Don Campus for getting this program up and running.

Driver Skills Australia will also have on display the Group A Subaru that Mark recently drove in the World Rally Championship. “Our company is about road safety and we encourage young drivers who enjoy driving to join a car club and participate in a safe controlled environment.

Many drivers think that racing on the road is clever but in fact it is these people that are risking lives and demonstrate a complete lack of maturity.

There are some great car clubs in Tasmania and I am always very happy to provide more information on how to get started to any interested drivers.” said Butcher.

For more information on Driver Skills Australia you can visit www.driverskillsaustralia.com .

Ends.