“We get each teenager who does the course to fill out a questionnaire first. One of the questions is to rank their present driving ability from 1 to 10. This lad wrote down an 11. After finishing the first session of the 2-day course he asked for his questionnaire back. We gave it to him and he changed his answer to a 1.” This was told to me by the President of the Central Queensland Motorsports – Benaraby who run the Benaraby Driver Education Facility. Along with this he advised how difficult it is to get local schools to put their students through the course, despite the Calliope and District Community Bank® branch of Bendigo Bank last year subsiding just over half the group rate (as well as providing $250 000 to build the facility).
I was gobsmacked, something as important as this for less than half the price not being taken advantage of. It should be booked out.
Only one school took advantage of the offer last year, and this was only after their school swimming carnival was postponed!
Is it schools responsibility to have their 16 and 17-year-old students do a defensive driver course? More for their Parents and Friends committee to say than me. But I imagine an overwhelming number of parents and carers would be in favour of it.
Why isn’t it happening then?
The State Government spend a fortune on advertising safe driver practices and on the treatment of those affected by motor vehicle accidents, so why don’t they encourage more preventative measures and get the schools to make attending a driver training course part of their curriculum? Easy for Gladstone schools, with the facility just out of town. Agreed, it’s a more logistical problem for other schools, but any more so than any other school excursion? Can other businesses and/or organisations assist to make the students travel and accommodation needs more manageable?
The Calliope and District Community Bank® Branch may on application subsidise the cost for 16 to 17-year-old students in Central Queensland to do the awareness course. For a group of 24 the cost after subsidy could be about $150 each. If you are a parent/carer of a 16 to 17-year-old student would you be happy to pay this and have your child a much safer and consciously aware driver? If so, ask the school to enquire about a group booking and the subsidy. If enough of you start asking, hopefully, the politicians will act and a great many of the state’s younger drivers will be safer drivers. Sooner the better.
Central Queensland Motorsports – Benaraby welcome the support of other businesses and organisations in achieving this goal. Comment on their Facebook page if you like to help.