Minister Foley welcomes the strong participation in the Road Safety Matters TY Programme
- Foilsithe: 23 Nollaig 2024
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 12 Aibreán 2025
Minister for Education Norma Foley has welcomed the roll-out of training for the new Transition Year road safety module in almost 140 schools nationwide.
So far, 149 teachers from 24 counties have participated in the first phase of the new Road Safety Matters Transition Year (TY) programme.
In September, the Road Safety Authority launched its new TY programme, Road Safety Matters, supported by An Garda Síochána. The programme has been developed to further support TY students and teachers, offering a step-by-step guide to prepare, educate and support students on their road safety journey.
The roll-out of this programme is on a phased basis. In phase one, 149 teachers representing 138 schools attended in-person professional learning in Swinford, Athlone, Portlaoise, Dublin, Cork, Galway and Donegal.
Minister Foley said:
"As Minister for Education, I have visited schools the length and breadth of the country and it is an inordinate sadness to me when a much loved and a much treasured student has been lost in a road fatality collision.
"The strong participation from our schools in this first stage of roll-out of the new TY road safety programme is a real indication of their appetite and willingness to deliver this education for a critical group of road users.
"For our students celebrating with family and friends over the festive season, I’d encourage you to stay safe, and drive carefully. We need to remember that road safety is a responsibility for all of us to address, not just schools. Road safety matters to each and every one of us."
Minister of State at the Department of Transport James Lawless said:
"It is very encouraging to see such high levels of participation in the Road Safety Matters Transition Year Programme since its launch. Road safety is a priority of mine and I want to reiterate how important it is that our young people are conscious of the rules of the road and that they incorporate road safety into their everyday lives. I look forward to continued success in the new year."
Sarah O’Connor, Director of Partnerships and External Affairs with the RSA said:
"We are delighted to see such a high level of enthusiasm from schools and teachers across the country. The interest in the programme reflects a clear understanding of the importance of road safety education among principals, teachers, and students, and we look forward to continuing this momentum in the coming phases. We also want to thank our team who facilitated in this in-person training which has received such tremendous feedback on how it has been delivered."
The aim of the programme is to provide TY students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be safe road users.
They are given information about other basic road safety matters such as the “two second rule” for maintaining a safe distance between cars, how alcohol is detected in more than a third of drivers killed in crashes, and how to speak up if they are a passenger in a car which is being driven too quickly.
Pupils participating in the programme will learn the importance of sharing the road, developing the knowledge, skills, values and qualities to prepare them as road users of all types, including potentially as safe drivers, if they decide to drive in the future. Pupils also get the chance to learn and understand some of the questions from the Driver Theory Test, which has to be passed before doing a driving test.
Students doing the TY road safety programme are also given “beer impairment goggles” and “drug impairment” goggles as experiential tools to promote learning of key road safety lessons, where they simulate the effects of alcohol and drugs while driving. They are challenged to complete a variety of tasks while wearing the goggles, such as walking the line, touching their nose and stacking cups.
As part of the development of this programme, a needs analysis was conducted with TY teachers and students. The results showed that there were significant gaps in students’ level of knowledge of road safety and confirmed that there was an overwhelming demand for more road safety education at post-primary level.
The programme consists of 10 units:
- Setting the Scene
- Learning to Drive
- Components of a Car
- Speed
- Alcohol
- Drugs
- Distracted Driving
- Seatbelts
- Vulnerable Road Users
- Assessment and Celebrations
Details on the new RSA Road Safety Matters TY programme, as well as instructions for teachers on registering for upcoming professional learning dates, can be found at: Road Safety Matters.
Phase two of the RSA programme, supported by the Department of Education and An Garda Síochána and officially sponsored by Irish Public Bodies mutual insurance, will see continued roll-out to schools, evaluation of the pilot with the aim of significantly expanding the reach of the programme in September 2025.
Notes
Minister for Education Norma Foley officially launched the new RSA transition year (TY) programme “Road Safety Matters”, designed to help students become safer road users in September 2024. The programme was created in direct response to the Minister’s request was made to the RSA last year to develop a new TY programme as an immediate first step in helping to change road safety culture among young people.
The module was developed by the RSA, supported by An Garda Síochána and officially sponsored by Irish Public Bodies mutual insurance.