More than 1,200 kindergarteners from Australia's Central West and Riverina areas have completed NRMA Insurance's bus safety program.
This initiative is a collaborative project involving NRMA, NSW Police, and various local bus operators, aimed at fostering an early understanding of road safety.
Established 18 years ago by NRMA's Christine Hillis and Sarah Wardman, the program is designed with the objective of integrating bus safety into a fun and engaging learning experience for children beginning their school journey.
In the months of February and early March, the initiative reached out to 33 primary schools within Forbes, Wagga Wagga, Narrandera, and Parkes, offering students hands-on activities focused on bus safety.
The curriculum of the program is tailored to address the concerns and curiosity of young learners, featuring classroom talks, dynamic presentations, and practical bus rides where the children could apply the safety principles they were taught. This approach aims at demystifying bus travel for the youngest of school-goers, making their daily commutes safer.
According to Hillis, the program plays a crucial role in sharpening the students' awareness about the risks associated with road and vehicle travel, ultimately aiming to make their journeys to and from school safer.
“This program helps improve the children's general understanding of the dangers that exist when travelling in a vehicle or crossing a road and helps to increase their confidence to ensure their trip to and from school is always a safe one,” she said.
“The bus safety program has been running for nearly two decades, which has helped to build greater awareness and create a safer environment for both school kids and drivers on the road,” Wardman said.
The safety lessons imparted through the program are comprehensive, advising students on a variety of practices such as keeping a safe distance from the curb, refraining from unruly behaviour at bus stops, and how to safely get on and off the bus. Furthermore, it emphasised the importance of communication in the event of missing a stop and encourages discussing safety measures with a responsible adult.
Scheduled to revisit the Central West and Riverina regions in February 2025, the bus safety program continues to be a cornerstone in the quest to cultivate road safety consciousness among the younger generations in Australia.
The announcement follows NRMA's collaboration with tech experts to launch a podcast aimed at teaching people about electric vehicles.
