VICTORIA Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe has been named patron of Fit to Drive (F2D), a university-led road trauma education program for young people.
Chaired by former Hobsons Bay mayor Leigh Hardinge, F2D involves university students talking to year11 students about risk-taking behaviour and looking after mates on the road.
Mr Walshe, who met peer ambassadors last Friday, said teens were over-represented in road collisions, the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15-25. “It’s been proven that ‘peers teaching peers’ is highly effective and we need young Victorians to listen up.”
Ambassadors are RMIT youth work graduate Andrew Gai, 25, who got his full licence last weekend; RMIT psychology undergraduate Ruth Game, 23; Victoria University education graduate Lucy Joy Dawson, 22; and VU education undergraduate Katrina Andaloro, 22.
Last year, more than 20,000 students at 160 schools went through the program. Schools to
be visited by ambassadors in coming months include those in Hoppers Crossing, Laverton, Melton and Werribee.
