THE impact of road trauma – on yourself and others, will be one of the topics covered at road trauma presentations to thousands of students at Peninsula Community Theatre in two sessions: 24 and 25 June and 22 and 23 July.
Other topics at the talks put on by Teenagers Road Accident Group (TRAG) include the aspects of life that can be affected by road trauma; safe driving practices and decision making, and a focus on making good choices with the message Drive4Life.
About 3000 secondary school students from around the Mornington Peninsula will attend the presentations, in Wilsons Road, over the four days.
TRAG presenters include emergency service personnel such as Victoria Police, CFA, Ambulance Victoria, SES, as well as victims of road trauma and family members who have lost loved ones through road trauma.
All TRAG presenters volunteer their time and their personal stories in the hope of reducing the number of young people killed or injured through road trauma in our community.
The sessions are offered free to all schools with all costs covered by community donations.
They target Year 11 and 12 students and are designed to promote road safety and to end preventable road trauma for the next generation of young drivers.
Project manager Jonelle Colabufalo said TRAG members knew firsthand how crucial their message was to young drivers. “They believe that if it saves just one life of a student who attends, it will have been worth it,” she said.
Frankston SES’s Priscilla Grimme has been a volunteer road rescue specialist for 24 years. “The presenters tell their story of how road trauma not only affects them personally but also the devastating loss to families and friends who are impacted by our youth being killed on our roads,” she said.
“I have no doubt that the presentations by TRAG volunteers to teenagers on the Mornington Peninsula are making a difference by saving lives on our roads.”
Project manager Colabufalo said parents with senior school students should be asking if their school is attending TRAG’s presentations. “If not, please ask the school why not? If you would like to bring them along anyway, please get in contact directly with TRAG.”
Details: Call project manager Jonelle Colabufalo on 0481 308 724 or visit trag.org.au
First published in the Mornington News – 18 June 2019
